Path to the Present
by CatAssTrophyc
Summary: Luxu was assigned an important mission from the Master of Masters. To bring the box into the Future. Not by taking a shortcut, but by simply passing through all the time in between. He also had another mission. One that made sure he would not have the time to get bored: Travel the world as it falls apart and prepare it for its rebirth.
1. Prologue - The night of the Storm

_Hey there. Thank you for giving this a read. *bow*_

_This is the first time I am writing a story so I hope I was somewhat able (or rather 'will have been able') to get my thoughts across in this text and that it is somewhat entertaining. Any review is of course appreciated._

_The general idea is that in KH3 I was intrigued by the transformation of Luxu into Xigbar and wanted to write a story that would make some sense of his change in character. (I now finally started, because I simply had too much time and no internet the last week, so I wrote the first two chapters and lots of scribbles on my phone.) At first the story might still follow some more basic Disney-themes but the more weathered Luxu becomes in his odyssey, the more mature the themes would become. Another thing would be, that I assume that there is a looong time between the story of union cross and birth by sleep. Many generations in fact._

_Also, I have internet again - obviously. And I have much stuff to do, so I can only hope to find time for this, as I was getting more absorbed in writing as I thought I would. __It's quite fun. :)_

_Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in the Kingdom Hearts franchise and am not making any money with this. It's purely written for my and your entertainment._

* * *

**Prologue - The Night of the Storm:**

It is an extremely dark night right now. That fact by itself is nothing special in these parts of the land. After all the woods are so thick that almost no light will shine through the branches from the sky. There are two unsettling things, however.

The first is the unnatural silence that would normally be impossible in a forest like this. Even if one doesn't notice, there is always something to be heard. At least there should be. One could come to believe, he or she is simply looking at a painting if it wasn't for a rather foul smell in the air and a small fire that is flickering on the ground.

The other thing that one just can't – or shouldn't – wrap their mind around, is that the light of the fire didn't reach the surrounding stones as it normally would. It appears [SL1] as though it is swallowed by a thick fog, although no such thing could be seen around the fire. Still, because everything else can be seen relatively clear, something has to be there, for the phenomenon to make sense. And it has to make sense, or else the mind will have to come up with another reasoning. One, that isn't quite as harmless than the one before it. One, that could mean the death of the person sitting in front of the fire.

That somewhat frail looking person sits with his arms wrapped around his knees, trying to make itself [SL2] as small as possible. The person wears a thick-looking, black coat that conceals its whole body, but it doesn't wear it to keep himself warm but for hiding it's heart and - in this case much more important – it's thoughts.

But even the coat can't completely fend off the curse that has struck this land. In this night it seems to grow stronger by the minute. The air seems to become heavier, as if it wants to choke anyone who tries breathing it. The ground seems to become muddy, as if it wants to swallow all that walks on top of it and imprison it inside, in an eternal grave. The stones look as though they are coming loose and can come crashing down any minute. And branches seem to creep closer from all sides whenever one isn't alert enough. It seems, as if the trees are trying to grab whoever is in their reach and pull them underground with all their might. But the person in front of the fire adamantly refuses to think about these things and restrains its imagination as if its life depends on it. That is, because the person knows for a fact that it does.

It tries to concentrate on the fire instead and that way keep its thoughts in check, although something in the back of its mind continuously rekindles its imagination, and that means the person doesn't have a single moment to let its guard down. If one looks closely, one can indeed make out some unnatural movement in the fire, as if a creature inside it is slowly starting to wake up.

"It's just like Master said. It's as if monsters lie in every imaginable corner of my perception... Or my mind."

The person starts speaking with a rather young and boyish voice. He tries to break the heavy silence surrounding him and for a moment the "fog" around the fire seems to dissipate. But it is immediately re-engulfed in another, even thicker wave. It seems as if there is an endless stream of darkness quelling forth from the space around the fire itself. Seeing this, the man is glad that the coat shields him from most of the curse and he pulls its hood even further down.

Luckily, he knows what is happening, as he has been instructed about what is to come by his master. Otherwise he most likely would have already lost himself in his imagination long ago. This land, like uncountable others, has been "cursed" after a bitter war. The curse seeped into all the mountains, rivers and skies alike with no save place in between, and it sometimes erupts in storms like this one. It is the first time he is caught in the middle of it, but it is definitely not going to be the last. He won't let his travels end like this. Not, when they haven't even started yet.

The master told him that he has trained enough to fend it off, and so he tries to hold on to that thought - that faith he has in his master – so he won't doom himself with uncertainty. After all, uncertainty is just another seed of ideas – and he really doesn't need any more of those right now.

And as his master has taught him, he goes through the tasks he has been given one after another. So as to leave no space for imagination, everything need to have a strict order to it. After he finishes, he continues to list the shapes the Curse would often take - or the species of Darkness, as they are called once given form. After that, he recites in his mind the master's prophecies word for word. Of those he wished, that the master had told him more, but he cuts off the thought halfway and goes on to the next list. He continues with useful plants, important places - if they eve still exist - and all other information he can use for his future travels. He does so at a very slow pace so he won't exhaust himself and fall asleep. But at the same time, he has to be careful that his thoughts won't drift away while he is in his trance and strictly keep to his lists.

He repeats this process a few times until he feels like the storm is slowly letting up. Then, suddenly the remaining curse becomes restless. The "fog" starts to gather towards the fire, as if trying to extinguish it as its last deed. But the man knows that they are drawn towards the thoughts that he has concentrated inside the flames during the storm. Now, that the darkness feels its own weakness, it has stopped looking for the source of the thought, that it luckily hasn't been able to find and starts looking for any host at all that can contain them, and the flames are the best fit.

So, instead of extinguishing it, the darkness seeps right _into_ the fire and the creature that has been only a rough shape before, can now be seen more and more clearly. Then it finally starts to transform.

At first the flames get slower until they come to a complete standstill. The ash at the bottom of the fire start to rise, as to becomes the pot that contained the fire. Two big sparks light up inside the flames and instead of flying away like the others, they stay inside and become the creature's eyes. And at last, a horizontal rift begins to form in the time-frozen fire and becomes the creature's mouth, which is already in the shape of a menacing smile. Right when it starts to float, the sparks also start to look into the man's eyes.

As soon as it sees him it starts glowing and flickering, wildly signalling that it just can't wait to burn him to ashes and to make his heart its own. But its glee is short-lived as in that moment, the man swiftly stands up, puts out his hand and whisperes

"Freeze!"

With these words the fireplace is illuminated once again. This time it's not by a fire but by runes that were written in a circle around it that glow in a bright snow-white. The runes are not the most refined type. They seem as if they have been written hastily, by someone who has had no time to spare for things like proper alignment. But that doesn't matter to the man. As long as they do what they were supposed to do, he won't even think of complaining.

Starting from the place that is closest to the palm, the time-frozen flame quickly turns blue and becomes actually frozen. On the creatures face now lies a shocked expression, in disbelief over what has just happened. Finally, as if gravitation has been turned back on, it falls back on the ground as a block of ice, where it bursts into a million pieces.

Although the man's movement have seemed light before, his hand is shaking now, and he is out of breath.

"As if I'd let you...!"

He wheezes and after waiting for a few moments he continues to whisper to himself.

"All this preparation and time for a single Monster... If I had known, that I need to do things quietly like this, I would have prepared myself and started training much earlier."

The man sits back down in order to catch his breath.

"...Well, I'll consider myself lucky, that I found such a quiet place in time before it started... No telling if I could have gotten myself out of this, if there had been any disturbances."

With his words he is finally able to shake off the remaining fears he feels in his heart for his make-shift camp and can somewhat calmly close his eyes and lean on a tree for a little rest. But he has to keep his mind awake nonetheless, so he won't accidentally get trapped in another fog.

The cursed mist in his immediate surroundings has been gathered in the bundle of flames. Now, that the flames are slowly melting before his feet, he can relax just a bit. But that is just a special case in the whole area and the rest of his path. For the storm to clear up completely he has to wait a while longer.

In order to not break the silence any more than he already has, the man closes his eyes and quietly thought to himself.

_*Now I just have to be careful not to attract the remaining curse, otherwise all my work would have been for nothing... But how do you check if something is still there if you can't look for it? After all I don't want it to notice me.*_

He ponders about it, but can't find a good answer. In the end he simply shrugs and sits down.

_*Well I better just keep sitting for a while. That has to be enough for now.*_

Unfortunately, the cloak helps only a little, if the person wearing it is moving around, and once darkness notices you, it gets clingy, making it almost impossible to remove it quietly.

Sometime later he opens his eyes again and notices a small ray of light coming from above shining a few feet away from him.

"Looks as if the moon is out again, time to get out of this place as long as the air is clear."

This time he stands up, ready to walk again and after a big yawn and stretching his arms and legs he starts moving. Sleeping is unfortunately not an option for him yet, because this land is now far too dangerous, and he has to get away as fast as possible.

As there is no real path to or from his hiding spot he has to climb over a few rocks, roots, branches and trees in order to get up a hill. Before the storm, he has looked for a place to hide in a hurry, so he doesn't remember the exact path he took. Because of that, he stops at the top of the hill to scan the area.

The wood has already ended shortly before, so he has a wide view in front of him. After finding what he is looking for, he continues towards the path he has been on before. And thus, he walked on. And he will keep on walking for a while longer until he finally has [SL3] his first prophesized encounter.

But first he has to find a place to sleep for the night - or whatever amount of time is left before the sun comes up. Unfortunately, instead of finding what he is looking for, he is presented with different scene.

He has just climbed the top of a somewhat bigger hill, when he abruptly stops and stares.

"Master, was there really no other way? Is there nothing I can do to help? No one should go through something like this! This war can't have been this important! Now all the lands are cursed, and innocent people will suffer for it... And the land I had considered home... is now out of my reach forever."

He clenches his fists as he shouts into the air, and not for a moment does he averts is gaze from what he sees. After all he feels it is important that he burns the scene before him into his mind.

The man knows, that thanks to his cloak and training he is able to get through the Storm unscathed. But other beings, of whatever race or form, are less fortunate than him. And when the fog comes, they will run in blind fear. But the Cursed Mists are contained within the land itself and so there is nowhere to run and being caught is their certain fate. After being caught the Mists will cause an almost hypnotic effect and will induce many visions and ideas that spring from one's own deepest nightmares. It amplifies one's greatest fears. Then through these visions the Mist takes form and changes the reality around it. The nightmares will definitely become reality, if there are enough Mists and unfortunately the supply during a Storm is almost unlimited. The consequences are as clear as they are terrible.

In front of the man is - or rather was - a great plane through which a broad river flows. Beside that river are a few roads that lead to the center of the plane. But where probably should have been a town, is now only pitch-black nothingness present. It's been replaced by a cloud of black mist that seems to be still expanding and pulsates as if it is alive. Even from this distance the man shivers and pulls his hood further down.

The wind that is coming from the cloud carries a foul smell of sweat and dirt, and the sound it makes is as if it contains the echoes of screams that are coming from deep inside the fog. The people inside must have thought that the whole plane has turned into a place of horror. And the Mists have made it true.

Now the fate of the town is sealed. It will fall into darkness and will no longer be part of this realm. The townspeople themselves have likely already become hosts for the darkness and if not, they will be. Nothing can save them now. Even a disciple of the great master of masters can do nothing more than just idly stand there.

With nothing else to do than just staring, the man unwillingly turns around and walks on. It is only a few steps later that he notices his fists are still clenched. So, without stopping he takes a deep breath and relaxes his arms.

"As if I would let my mood be spoiled by this. The path is long and there are many people to be met and many adventures to be had!"

But even as he is saying this, he'd rather wanted to just sit down and cry. Because he was sure, no matter how long his journey will take him, he will never be able to see these lands or its people again. It is not the time, however. He has to run, so he himself won't be caught by the mists. He can only hope that there is still any save place left that he can reach.

And as he keeps walking, the man repeates the first of masters Prophecies in his head over and over:

_"When the first step has been taken_

_and all around the mists awaken,_

_a swift step you need_

_to fulfil your first deed._

_Your path grows steeper,_

_the pain grows deeper._

_Still, your path always takes you up_

_and only above the clouds may you stop._

_There, at the end of the road,_

_salvation will wait in thunders abode."_


	2. Chapter 1 - The long Climb

**The long Climb**

Alongside a small river that is coming down a slope, a trail leads upward. How high it goes can't be made out, as it vanishes between some big rocks. The only thing one can say for sure, is that the path continues past the rocks. Because how can a path be formed if it only leads to some rocks - it has to end at someplace less hard, right? With the Storm having gone by, it should be okay again to dream of nice things.

A gush of wind goes up the slope and gets tangled up halfway to the rocks, inside some leaves. A single tree stands there besides the path, contributing some of its roots as steps for the otherwise earth-made track. Above all stands the night sky, whose stars already start to get overshadowed by a dark blue.

Looking east, one can make out the first rays of orange that reach the highest of the rocks. And apparently, they have already interrupted the peaceful slumber of some birds, as their songs echo through the stones towards the tree.

"Already? Didn't I just barely fall asleep?"

A figure hurdled beneath the tree starts to move. It slowly gets up, until it finally sits upright. But when it stretches its arms upwards, it twitches and slumps down again.

"Ack!... Looks like my back isn't going to stop hurting anytime soon. You could have really foretold some nice places to stay during the night, Master. The ones with actual beds would have been nice. Well, at least I can find some ingredients around here. Like... Yum, an apple. Again. Well, it's not, as if I would have the time to cook anyways - I already need to get going."

With that he gets up, after doing some more stretches, picking an apple from the tree he walks towards the rocks while eating it. By the rocks he finishes the apple, throws the rest away and starts to jog through.

"Heh, now I'm actually between a rock and a hard place."

He snickers a little to himself, but as if to punish him for his bad joke, the rocks suddenly start shaking. The man immediately starts to look for a save spot, where he can hide himself from diverse falling debris. And through the stones echoes a dulled voice, that sounds as if trees are ripped out of the ground and cracking rocks.

"AHH, AAHHH, TCHHHHOOOO!"

A big tremor goes through the rocks around the man and he has to dodge several falling stones.

"DAMN SUN... ALWAYS TINGLING MY NOSE! YOU BETTER WATCH OUT OR I'LL GO UP AND GET YOU!"

An angry voice can be heard, but inside the rocks it is difficult to make out where it is coming from. But what the man definitely feels, is the ever-present cursed mists getting riled up, over the creatures' anger.

Before it can have any effect, the rocks to the man's left start moving again. Upwards, this time. They go way above the man's head and vanish behind the other stones to the right. With this the man finally understands that he has been walking between the legs of a giant rock creature. Somewhat disgruntled the man starts to whisper.

„This is where going upwards gets me? Do you hate me Master? Wasn't there any- oh no. I really should stop complaining."

Thanks to the rocks moving, the only path up, that wasn't a cliff has been revealed - along with the creatures' face, that is right beside it.

After standing still for a while and the creature not starting to move again, the man slowly steps towards the path up. With every step he has to be careful not to kick any of the debris that is still lying around, so he won't wake up the creature that already seems to be in a foul mood.

Like this he creeps closer and closer. At this point the creature would just have to open its eyes and it would stare straight at the man. But he has to come closer still if he wants to go up, and so, closer he goes.

The distance is now so small he can hear the creature's breath, which is like a little gust of wind whispering in a cave. It feels much too small for a big creature like this but then again: Does it even need to breath, or is this just the wind blowing through the creature's cracks?

As such thoughts go through the man's head, he suddenly feels another vibration and sees a big, plump hand coming towards him. The man sees that he will quite literally be caught between a rock and a hard place this time around and starts running. All whilst trying as much as he can to sound like nothing more than falling rubble.

He barely manages to escape the hand that is now scratching the cheek of the creature.

"GRRRR... THE SUN IS ALWAYS... SO ITCHY..."

With those words the creature's hand has placed itself in front of the head and the man can finally loose some tension. He has been using the scratching and mumbling as cover to gain some distance between himself and the giant. And after he turns behind a corner, he lets out a little laugh.

"Heh, looks like he's sleeping like a rock after all."

But he immediately looks around for another punishment for his joke.

"Learn your lesson already: Don't joke if you're not ready to die." he rebuked himself.

After he feels safe enough, he changes from walking to jogging again and continues upwards - until it has become too hot during midday and he stops for a bit.

"What is this? It feels like I'm melting! If I didn't know any better, I'd say I'm in a hot spring! But then again - what would I give for a hot spring right now, my feet are killing me!"

And like that the river before him starts steaming.

"What!? You mean it? Fate is for once on my side!?"

And then a crack opens beneath the river and lava gushes out, immediately evaporating the remaining water.

"Weeell, I guess, thank you fate. At least you tried."

More lava comes out and replaces the water river - which now overflows. Before he can get his long overdue - and last - hot bath, the man jumps away from the path, which immediately vanishes beneath the lava. But he has no time to stop, as he can suddenly hear an explosion, closer than he likes it.

Along with lava, the explosion has hurled several big rocks into the air, some of which are also flying in the mans direction. Trying to gain some distance, he runs upwards, as lava at least can't flow in that direction. He barely manages to escape the falling rocks that crush the ground where the man has stood before.

"It's like I'm walking on coals here! These are definitely going to leave a mark!... But for once master is pointing me at the right direction at least."

Once again reciting the prophecy in his head, he resumes running upwards and climbs to a higher position so he won't run into another lava-river. From there he looks back again and sees the culprit who is responsible for his dilemma.

"Is he... singing?"

Before him, where the eruption has been, sits another giant in the middle of a lake made of of lava. Seemingly washing his body– and generally having a good time.

"He's bathing! While I'm trying my best here, not to be turned to ashes, he is having a hot bath!... And is that...?"

The magma-giant has just noticed some deer who are panicking because of the lava. And as to amuse himself, he splashes some lava in their direction. The deer who had thought they have at least a temporary save spot, now have to run even further away.

The magma-giant lets out a deep and vicious laughter that echoes throughout the mountain range.

"That's it. I'm gonna make a glacier out of you."

He is about to move downwards towards the lava pool, when he remembers his master's words again. He lets out a deep sigh.

"I can't deal with every evil along the way. Stopping at every turn only lets the darkness catch up to me. If I don't fulfil my mission, every other deed I do will be meaningless... Sorry deer, looks like you're on your own."

He has a pained look on his face, but he forces himself not to look back again. The cursed mist is already getting active in these lands - to a big part probably thanks to the giants. There is no telling when and where the next Strom would hit. He has no time to spare, at this point he might even run out of it if he's unlucky.

And as if to spite him even more, the mountain starts to get colder and colder. He climbs a while longer and the river starts freezing. He can see a few birds herded together trying to warm each other.

"Oh, did you fly too high? That's weird... why would you do that? Unless-"

He starts to hear giant footsteps in the distance, followed by a noise that sounds somewhat like cold wind going through a deserted house in winter. But the man is quite sure it is supposed to be a whistle.

"I shouldn't have made that glacier-joke, huh?"

With a quick gesture he picks up the birds, stuffs them into his coat and hides behind a stone. Some of the birds let out a little tweet but they are generally too weak for anything more than that. As soon as the man is hidden, he draws a circle and some signs on the floor. Just as he is finished, they immediately start to glimmer a little, but ice is already spreading and glimmering everywhere, so it luckily doesn't stand out.

The man lays sideways inside the circle and tries to cover his arms and legs with his coat. The ice spreads even further, but when it reaches the circle it stops. The giant comes closer and closer and the air gets even colder. If the ice had broken through the circle it would probably already have frozen the man's arms, legs and face to the ground.

Luckily the birds seem to understand the situation and keep quiet as they hear the footsteps and strange whistle. The man doesn't dare to look how close the giant has already gotten, so he won't give himself away. When he almost considered whether he should make a run for it, the steps turn into another direction and walk away.

The man stays put as he is, so the birds won't start twittering and ruin the entire plan. Only when he doesn't hear any steps and the air doesn't hurt his throat anymore, does he stand up.

Though the birds have warmed up considerably, they still seem weak, so he takes them to the river and releases them there. But one of the birds, unfortunately hasn't made it. His lifeless body almost falls on the ground when the man opens his coat a bit. The man catches it, but it is too late. He can only watch as it takes its last breath with an almost inaudible tweet and closes its eyes.

Still looking at the body in his hand he sits down besides the other birds, who slowly start to spread their wings again. He watches them for a while and places the bird in their middle. Some go towards it and look if they can wake him up, but eventually give up.

Another bird hops towards the man's foot and starts picking on it, then looks him in the eyes for a moment and turns around. It spreads its wings and flies away. The others follow him down the mountain.

"I hope in bird culture that is considered a 'Thank you'. And, hopefully, they are luckier on the way down than up here."

The river's splashing sounds are interrupted by a grumbling noise, that seems to originate from the man's stomach.

"Ah. In a way it would be a waste if I just left the bird here, right?"

The man asks into the air. "I mean, that's how life goes. When you die you become nutrients for someone else, so they may live. At this point I'm really not helping anyone by letting it rot here. It's not like I wanted it to die... Sooo... Thank you for the meal?"

So, the man stands up and starts to look for some firewood and tries his best to recall that one time he has been taught how to pluck the feathers of a bird.

* * *

"I don't suppose you could quit it with your jokes, mountain. Could you? I didn't even make any circle-of-life-jokes or gone-like-a-candle-in-the-wind-jokes - even though I could have. I learned my lesson, I stayed appropriate. So why are you still throwing stuff at me?"

The man is staring up the mountain, his face covered in mud and grass, his expression rather grim. In front of him there is a literal tornado. No save passage can be seen around it and it also doesn't look like it plans on going anywhere anytime soon.

Right now, it seems to be absorbed in its own little game: juggling giant rocks, throwing them far away from time to time. For a moment the man has the idea to cling to one of the rocks and just hope for the best. If he is lucky, he could get thrown all the way up the mountain. He could also get crushed on any number of occasions. He half-jokingly considers his odds. In the end he decides against it, but considering his expression, it might have been a close call.

Just this once going against his instructions of always going up, he goes a part of the way down again.

There he sets up another rune circle, this time it shines in a fiery red and is bigger than the others he made before. He also adds some powders he carries with him. After he is finished, he quickly makes his way back up again and hides in a deep hole he has found before.

Waiting for something, he stares upwards and tenses up his muscles. Suddenly the mountain shakes, and an explosion can be heard. From the direction of the rune circle some clumps of earth fly over the hole, just to turn around mid-air and fly the other direction again. Along with some giant rocks.

After those follows a seemingly flustered tornado. Seeing his chance, the man jumps out of the hole and sprints up the path as fast as he can. The man has hoped he could get past the open fields before the tornado notices him and hide between the rocks. But although it is almost deafening by itself, the tornado can somehow still hear the man's steps and turns around halfway to the rune circle.

The man notices the tornado coming back and runs even faster, trying to get to the rocks before the tornado reaches him. But when he almost reaches them, he can feel his feet getting lighter and the wind blowing against him. Then he gets pulled off the ground and thrown into the air.

He flies further and further upwards and the man can hear a sinister laugh coming from all around him, as if it were the winds themselves that are laughing. Then the upward wind stops and for a short moment he is suspended in mid-air, but he can't see anything because of the dark fogs around him.

But he has seen worse "fogs" so these don't scare him too much. Because of that he is able to keep his composure and evade a few boulders that are thrown at him. Then a large rock comes flying and he sees his chance.

"Defend!"

The spell he casts forms a bubble around him and absorbs the impact of the boulder. And the man uses the impulse of the rock to catapult himself out of the tornado and lets out a relieved sigh. It seems he has somewhat managed to keep his sense of direction, as he is flying towards the mountain top and not away from it.

Or he has just got lucky. But either way his relief is short-lived. Behind him the tornado freezes for just a moment to look at him in awe, but then spontaneously expands faster than the man flies. The man has already prepared for the tornado to reach him, when he suddenly gets struck by lightning. Or rather, he should have been struck by it - but before he can finish his thought he has already landed, or rather crashed, at the feet of a very large bearded man.

"I don't believe it! A mortal came all the way up here! Haha! Have you lost your mind, or did you actually come to challenge the titans? Ha! That still would mean you lost your mind! But where are my manners. My name is Zeus, the god of Thunder. Though you've already had a live demonstration of my skill with lightning so who am I telling this, right?"

Zeus almost can't contain his laughter while introducing himself, but the man also notices a strange expression on Zeus' face, when he talks about challenging the titans.

"Thank you… very much for saving me back there… I can't tell you enough… how much I appreciate it."

The man is lying on the ground as he says this. He would have liked to get up, but the path up along with the "live demonstration" of the lightning has become more than he could handle.

"Don't mention it. That was the first time I saw that expression on Statos' face so let's say we're even."

The man doesn't really understand how that can be considered an equivalent exchange, but he doesn't have the strength to talk back either, so he just nods and repeats a short "Thanks".

Understanding that he is too exhausted to speak, Zeus breathes in to start talking himself, but before he can say, something, he is interrupted.

"... and my name's Luxu. Nice to meet you."

"Greetings Luxu, Conqueror of the Mountain... And Stormrider. Not a god, but still some awesome titles wouldn't you say?"

After that Luxu falls asleep from exhaustion.

* * *

_Magic runes - Notes:_

_Runes give way to more complex magic. They make it possible to set up traps beforehand and prepare other kinds of helpful mechanisms. Their biggest disadvantage however would be the long time they need, before they are usable. This basically makes them useless in actual combat. Luxu still wants to depend on them as much as possible, as they can hardly be detected by Cursed Mists. That means he needs to plan ahead if he wants to fight inside the Mists, like the time he used the runes to freeze the fire._

_If one used normal magic in such mists, the magic would go straight through them as the Mists themselves are untouchable. But the mists would follow the will, or rather the thoughts contained inside the spell directly to its source. So, any spell would be nothing more than a beacon for the surrounding Mists. With runes, there is no direct connection between spell and caster, which makes it a much more usable method of self-defence._


	3. Chapter 2 - Family Matters

**Family Matters**

"…and That is basically what you should to. Any questions?"

"Uh, yes!? This is insane! Even if I manage to do this. Is this even possible in a single lifetime? What if I fail? Will that be it? Is there any plan B at all? Couldn't you send out more people? And even if I somehow manage to pull this off, there is no way I can be in time everywhere! Whatever will be left, will just be a fraction of what currently exists!"

"Slow down there, how am I supposed to answer all of them at once! It's going to be fine. You'll have enough time, I promise.

There will be no need for a plan B, because I know you will succeed. Who do you think I am? You think I'd do something thoughtless? Do you think that little of your master? I'm shocked – no: I'm upset! My dear disciple thinks his master is a sham!

Also, you should understand why I can't send out more than one person. It's just not possible.

And for your last question: You of all my disciples know best, about what is to come. The fact that there is a way to save anyone at all can be considered a miracle. I understand your wish of wanting to save everyone. I get it, but you mustn't lose yourself in a misconception: You are not a god. Sometimes you will have to let go – maybe even run away! Because if you fall, all the other places you haven't been to by then will lose the only chance they have."

"…"

"Well, if you don't have any more questions, let me tell you a funny story about the power of light: As you know, virtuous people carry light itself inside their heart. And once mastered, they can cast powerful spells with that light.

But did you know that the light inside a heart will be incredibly amplified, when it is fighting with darkness? So, if someone had to find a beaming light, the best method would be to control darkness! I just love the irony of that!

Hey! Don't look at me like that, it was a joke! Don't worry there are more than enough ways people can shine brightly – I wouldn't tell you to do something like wielding dark powers. Luxu? Hey, -"

* * *

"- Luxu!"

Suddenly opening his eyes, Luxu sits up straight as if struck by lightning.

"Yes! Mas-…ter?"

Confused, he stares into the eyes of the bearded man before him, who now gives him a smirk.

"Sorry, I'm not taking any disciples. For something like that you should go to the satyrs. I heard they love that kind of stuff."

Only now remembering what has happened, Luxu jump out of the bed and waves his arms around to apologise.

"Ah, sorry! I must have still been half asleep! I really didn't want to intrude. Thank you again for saving me, Zeus!"

Zeus gives him a hearty laugh.

"Haha! Intrude? Nonsense! If anything, it was me, who kidnapped you right out of the air. So come, sit. You must be hungry, and I just love sharing stories at the table!"

Still reluctant to indebt himself even more, Luxu can't object Zeus' argument. He has indeed not eaten a full meal in a while, so he gives in.

"Fine, I'll try to entertain you as best as I can."

* * *

"Whahahaha! So, you're saying you've been climbing this mountain because your master told you in a prophecy to 'go up'? And you survived the encounter with Lykos, Pyros, Hydros _and_ Stratos? And then you still flew up even further! Hahahaa! This is getting better and better! Whaahaahaha…I can't! I give! I won't be able to eat like this!"

Visibly struggling to catch his breath, Zeus fans with his hand towards Luxu, signifying that he needs a pause. Luxu smirks, as he drinks from a glass of water

"Alright, but then I also have a question. What did you mean when you said 'challenging the titans'? Does that happen sometimes that people come up and challenge them?"

Zeus laughter seems to vanish, the moment Luxu changes the topic and a small frown can be seen on his face instead. Luxu raises his hands to retract his question.

"Sorry, I didn't know it was a bad topic. I shouldn't have asked."

Zeus smiles slightly.

"It's fine, it was me who brought it up anyways."

He leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. While looking at the door, he begins talking

"No, so far no one has challenged the titans. They reign freely. Without anyone standing up to them, they do whatever they want to whoever they want. And the worst of them all, who is always at the top is my father, Cronus. I tell you, if he knew that I was still alive, he would swallow me whole! That's what he did with my brothers and sisters after all."

Luxu is shocked from what he has just heard and doesn't know what to say. He just stares at Zeus, not understanding how he can say something like that in such a calm manner.

"Ah, don't worry. I'll get them out of him at some point."

Zeus takes a small flask out of his robe.

"You see, if he drinks this emetic, he'd throw them all up. The only problem is, that I have no idea how I could make him drink this. So, I'm hiding in here for the time being, looking for a way to get close. He would notice me as soon as I get near him, I'm sure. I _am_ his son after all!"

Luxu, calming down after hearing that his siblings are still alive, thinks about it and comes to a conclusion.

"I might have a solution for your problem. I have faith in my ability to sneak around, so I could go up and put it in his drink. Then, when he throws up, I'll give you a sign. You come running and we'll defat Cronus."

Zeus raises his voice and seems almost offended.

"What!? How could I ask an outsider for help? This is a Family matter!"

"You had no reason to help me either and yet you saved my life! Let me please return the favour."

It is true that he wants to help Zeus, but there is another reason why he wants to do this as well. Luxu can see light in Zeus' heart and if he is there, when Zeus faces off against his father, it might be exactly the kind of light he is looking for.

"Hah… Alright, then let me show you a save way up. That way you won't run into any further trouble like you did up to now."

Zeus stands up, goes towards the door, opens it and signs Luxu to go in front. Once through the door, Luxu understands what Zeus has meant with 'hiding' before: Outside, he now stands in the middle of a cliff on a small plateau. Looking down, Luxu can't see the bottom, as it is already concealed by a thick fog – or a cloud?

"Great hiding spot – the titans can't find it if they can't reach it. And now I also get why there weren't any windows in the room. The view would have simply been stone – wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, it's a bit dark inside, but it seems I'll change rooms soon anyways. Now then…"

Zeus gives Luxu a wry smirk and proceeds to walk towards a small path, that leads upwards.

"…Follow me!"

* * *

After getting the path explained to by Zeus, Luxu swiftly goes up the rest of the mountain. When he can already see the top, he whispers to himself.

"The first person I meet, and it already gives better directions than you master. And you were _joking_ about being a sham!"

Luxu slows down considerably and begins sneaking so he won't be caught so close to the finish line. He can hear heavy steps from somewhere up above and he starts to zick-zack from rock to rock until he can see the origin of the steps. Another Titan is patrolling in front of a gate. Luxu can see a single eye on his face.

"That must be cyclops then. So, Zeus was right about him guarding the entrance."

Luxu gets as close as he can and circles around cyclops towards the right side of the entrance.

"THIS IS SOO BORING! I AM BOOOORREEEED! WHY DO I HAVE TO JUST SIT HERE WHILE THE OTHERS CAN HAVE FUN! WHO DOES CRONUS THINK WOULD CHALLENGE HIM ANYWAYS? ARRGH!"

Cyclops hits a rock with his bare fist in anger and leaves a mark on it. The rocks around him seem to have many such marks and many more have huge cracks on them or have already broken to pieces.

"Good thing I'm not fighting _that_. Seems like it's time to wait for a bit."

Luxu continues to observe the Titan for a while.

Then, a huge explosion can be heard in the distance. Luxu is unfazed but Cyclops turns towards it and has a huge smile on his face.

"IT CAN'T BE! SOMEONE IS ACTUALLY UP HERE!? HEEEEY! DON'T RUN AWAY, I NEED SOMEONE TO SMASH!"

Cyclops runs off and Luxu can easily pass the door that is now unguarded.

Inside is a huge hall with uncountable pillars along the walls. The only light is a dark blue glimmer that comes from the ceiling and brightens the floor, which is so smooth, that it simply reflects the light from the ceiling and shines in almost the same colour.

As Luxu enters, he immediately hides behind one of the pillars that are forming a circle along the wall of the hall. He then continues to walk from pillar to pillar until he finally spots what he has been looking for: A giant throne made from what seems to be clouds. It is coloured in a somewhat brighter blue than the ceiling and inside shines some white lights as if they were stars.

On top of the throne is a giant blue man, snoring faintly. One hand supports his head, the other holds a giant mug.

Seeing his chance Luxu sneaks up to the throne and climbs the clouds to get to the mug. When he gets there, he climbs that as well and stands on the edge, looking inside an empty mug. Luxu has a displeased expression on his face and clicks his tongue as he whispers.

"Tch. Do I have to do everything by myself? Water…!"

Water gushes out from his and and it slowly fills the cup. After he is finished, he gets out the flask, opens it and pours all of it inside the mug. The water glimmers green for a moment and foam gathers at the surface. Luxu gives the scene a satisfied nod, when suddenly a deafening bang can be heard.

"NOBODY! I HAD MY HOPES UP FOR NOTHING! DAMNITAAAALLL!"

More bangs can be heard, and Cronus starts to wake up. Luxu hurriedly jumps off the mug and hides inside the clouds. Cronus starts to speak in a deep voice:

"NNNGH. DIDN'T I TELL CYCLOPS A THOUSAND TIMES ALREADY TO STAY QUIET?"

He opens his eyes, looks at the door and starts to yell so loud, Luxu has to cover his ears.

"CYCLOPS! IF YOU CAN'T EVEN DO SOMETHING SO SIMPLE LIKE GUARDING A DOOR, I MIGHT AS WELL SEND YOU TO TAUTARUS, YOU HEAR ME!? BUT I'LL GIVE YOU ONE MORE CHANCE! GO, BLOW OFF SOME STEAM AND AFTER YOU COME BACK WILL NOT HEAR A SINGLE WORD FROM YOU ANYMORE!"

From outside Cyclops can be heard:

"YOU MEAN IT, YYEEEESSSS! SEE YOU LATER CRONUS!"

More bangs can be heard, but they get continuously quieter until they become completely quiet. Cronus starts to massage his temple.

"GEEZ, WHAT WILL I EVER DO WITH HIM?"

He looks down and just now noticed the mug

"HUH? I THOUGHT I EMPTIED IT ALREADY? OH, WELL. MAYBE I DREAMT IT."

With that he drinks the mug in one go and burps out green steam.

Luxu sees his chance, reaches inside his coat and jumps up. He throws what appears to be a little spark as strong as he can towards the door. There it flies straight through to the outside. Alarmed, Cronus immediately reaches for Luxu, but he stops midway and holds his stomach instead.

"WHAT!?"

He bends forward and start to vomit. Luxu is surprised when the first thing that comes up is a stone. Afterwards come five people. Zeus has already told Luxu their names: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Poseidon and Hades. Before Luxu can say anything the door to the hall is thrown open and Zeus storms inside.

"My brothers and sisters! Time has come for us to finally meet each other! But there is no time for greetings! We need to be quick if we want to be free! Hestia! Demeter! Hera! The titans will notice as soon as the fighting starts! Please hold them off for as long as you can! Poseidon! Hades! My brothers! Come! Fight by my side against Cronus! Let us break our chains and regain the reins of our fate!"

The three goddesses nod and run towards the entrance. Poseidon readies his trident

"Zeus! Long have I waited for this day to come. You have my gratitude for this chance you have given me!"

Hades on the other hand starts burning in a bright red.

"Took you long enough, little brother! It's going to take forever to forget the smell his stomach. Think about it, we were living in the realm of farts!"

He turns towards Cronus.

"Hey! Big guy! Can't you see!? Your son is BURNING for your attention here! So, stand up and let's get this over with!"

With his words, fire starts to spread between the pillars. It grows bigger and bigger until the flames reach the ceiling. Cronus, who has been on all fours up to now, looks at Hades and stands up.

"SUCH INSOLENCE! THE FREEDOM YOU SEEK I SHALL NOT GRANT YOU, BUT MY ATTENTION I WILL – GET READY TO REGRET YOUR ACTIONS!"

With that he throws his fist towards the three of them. They all evade by jumping to the side, Poseidon to the left and Hades and Zeus to the right. Luxu starts running towards him, but Zeus yells.

"Stay back, Luxu! I told you, this is a family matter!"

Luxu stops and wants to shout, but Hades is faster.

"Look out!"

He grabs Zeus and jumps away, when another fist comes crashing down on them.

"Eyes on the prize, if you don't want to get plastered to the ground, Zeus!"

On the other side Poseidon prepares his own attack. He summons a huge wave of water and sends it towards Cronus.

"How about letting go of my brothers will you!"

Cronus on the other hand reaches towards his throne. The clouds it is made of give up their current shape and fly in front of Cronus. When the wave reaches them, it is absorbed into the cloud, making it grow much bigger. Cronus forms the cloud into a fist and throws it towards the three gods.

"Hades!"

Zeus shouts and runs towards the cloud, forming a spark of lightning in his hands, that grows more and more intense. Hades understands and sends a firestorm towards the cloud.

A huge explosion follows, with steam blocking sight everywhere. Cronus is almost thrown off his feet by the explosion and tries to regain his posture. But before he can do so, Zeus jumps out of the steam, holding a huge spear, made of lightning in his hand.

"CROONUUUUSS!"

A little spark of fear can be seen welling up inside Cronus' eyes, but that is enough for him to be frozen for just a moment.

Luxu has been sneaking up on Cronus and is the first to notice the dark clouds spreading from behind Chronus engulfing his body more and more. Luxu has already wondered when it will happen. The fight has riled up the cursed mist, which has already been very active in these lands, from the start. It has only been a matter of time before the storm comes. But this moment is exactly what he was waiting for.

With a wry smile on his face, he dashes in front of Cronus and jumps as high as he can.

"Zeus! Hit this!"

He puts up his hand and holds a strange looking object in his hand. It seems to be an ornamented box shining in a blinding white. Zeus who has been confused about the clouds for a moment, stops his sprint and throws his spear. When it hits the Device, it is absorbed by it and on the other side comes out an even brighter light until everything had turned to white.

The dark clouds are blown away and Cronus falls to his knees. But being unconscious, he doesn't stop there, and his upper body accelerates towards the ground as well. Until it suddenly stops in its track.

Zeus, stares at Cronus with a baffled look on his face, but then averts his gaze to look at Luxu who is walking towards him.

"What… just…?"

Zeus raises his hand to hold his head.

"What happened? You tell me. If the device works as master said it would, you should already know. After all it needed you to cast a spell with the light of your heart."

Luxu smiles wryly as Zeus answers.

"Yes, you're right. I _did_ do something. I suddenly wanted to protect everything I can and understood how I would do that…"

"Wrong. the desire to protect was already there inside you. The device just brought it to the surface. And I believe congratulations are in order. You just saved your entire place from falling into darkness. Now you'll just fall asleep. It's just a matter of time now, before the spell finishes."

Luxu turns around looking at Cronus, who – like everything else – gives off a small glimmer of light.

"What I don't get here is, why you would want to protect even him?"

As Luxu says this he points at the hovering giant in front of him. For a short moment Zeus seems just as puzzled as him, but then his face loosens as if he has found a satisfactory answer.

"It's not because I've forgiven him or anything. I'm not yet finished with him, or the other titans for that matter. But the device has not just shown me how to cast the spell. It also made me understand what I was protecting these lands from. It made me understand what happens what happens once you are swallowed by the dark mists. And though I hate him, even my father doesn't deserve this. He is someone I'll have to deal with myself."

Luxu ponders over Zeus words and answers.

"Casting away your family is more difficult than one would think, huh?"

"Yeah, he's been there for as long as I can remember, so he's already part of who I am. And who I am going to be."

Zeus has a conflicted expression on his face and changes the topic.

"By the way Luxu. What are _you_ going to do now? You can come stay here if you'd like."

"Oh, the device didn't tell you? Now that the dark storm is coming, the spell will activate as soon as it's finished. But while your world falls asleep and the storm dissipates to nothingness until there is no mist left to cause one, the devices carrier will stay awake and move to the next place. Of course, while I'm in the lands you just cast the spell on, I'll also be immune to the mists power, so you don't have to worry."

_*Although my thoughts will seep out of me and create Darknesses while the storm rages. But I'll manage, thank you.* _

"What? You're not part of the spell!?"

Something else seems to bother Zeus more than Luxu's safety.

"But that would mean, neither are any memories of you! They'll fall into darkness and be erased – won't they!?"

Luxu lets out a sigh.

"Yeah, they probably will. Nothing we can do about that. I _do_ need to continue my travels after all. So… you know. I wish you and your brothers best of luck together."

Luxu puts up a painful smile as Zeus almost loses his composure. But then he forms a big grin on his face.

"Now, _that_ won't do! That won't do at all! You come in here. You free my brothers and sisters for me. You even give me the means to save my world from falling into darkness. And now you'd move on as this world falls asleep before you!? Well, just you wait! You're not going anywhere! I'll _send_ you far away from this storm! You can't just always run while it's right behind you, can you!?"

With those words Zeus creates another lightning spear in his hand and as it grows, so does the grin on his face. Luxu gets pale, as the blood leaves his face. He still remembers the last time he has ridden one of those. Actually, he still _feels_ the last time he has ridden one of those in his bones.

"No, I'm good. I'll walk."

It may be fast, true. But Luxu would rather travel up the mountain several times over before even considering reliving this nightmare.

"Hey, don't be like that. I'm offering you a once-in-a-lifetime-chance of getting away from the storm-front."

Zeus grabs Luxu with one hand, before he can run away, and puts him on top of the spear he holds in in the other hand. This spear is almost as big as the one he has used against Cronus.

"Now hold still, so you don't fall off… Best of luck out there and if we ever meet again, you may beat some sense into me until I remember you… Get ready. Here. We. GOOOOOOOO!"

Zeus throws the spear with all his might and it almost immediately flies so far away it can't be seen anymore. The only thing that still proves something has been there, is the screams of terror that still echo in the mountains and a few teardrops that have landed on Zeus shoulder.

Zeus is touched by the tears Luxu has shed for him. It hasn't occured to him that it might not be tears of a far too early farewell, but of fear for one's life.

With this he goes back to the place he has stood at, when he has thrown the spear. Looking at his brothers, he waits for the spell to finish with a smile on his face. Then he also freezes up like everyone else and the world slowly falls into it's so important slumber.

* * *

A few… hundred… miles away, there is a cloudy sky above a giant forest. The clouds may have been dark, but by no means, have they been storm clouds. Still, with a thunderous scream, lightning comes crashing down from then and it flies towards a tree which it strikes.

The tree splits apart from the impact and starts burning a little. But branches aren't the only things that fall to the ground. A lifeless body, as pale as white marble also hits the trunk of the tree and falls on its roots.

As it laid there, small breaths can be heard. Though, the body still is still considering if one simply breathes in the afterlife as well. Because there is no way for anyone to survive something like this. While it lays there for a while longer, wondering if it should try whether its muscles still work, a prophecy comes to its mind. It starts to recite it:

_Down the mountain have you been cast,_

_away from the mists at last!_

_But do not loosen your heart,_

_for you are still a long distance apart_

_from your longed-for goal._

_Where you have to fulfil your role._

_A forest still separates you_

_\- a labyrinth you could call it too._

_If you want to find a pumpkin, do not follow your sight._

_Just listen closely and you'll be alright._

* * *

_Author Notes:_

_I kept the fighting scene rather short, because I can't bring myself to write it all out, as it has little value regarding character or story development. Feel free to let your imagination run wild though and add some more stages to the fight if you like. Poseidon could use fists made of water instead of a simple tidal wave, the stars inside the clouds could be used as a form of heat-ray, that is mirrored between ceiling and floor. Cronus could freely change the shape of the two to redirect the ray. Or the cloud could fly overhead and start raining down the stars, that turn out to be bombs. Hades could use his fire to blow them up before they reach the ground. How about some more combination attacks? A water-tentacle that becomes an electrocution-device. A firestorm that takes Cronus' vision, giving Zeus the chance to land some critical hits. The dark stage could be longer and Luxu could join the fight as well…_

_The Device *name Pending* - Notes_

_I might have explained in the story but just to be sure there's no misunderstandings, I'll paste my notes towards the Device here._

_The Device works in such a way, that it will put the world to sleep, when darkness arrives, so they can resurface unscathed when the time comes. (- Main series) Upon activation the device connects to the activators heart and puts a protective spell on everything that person holds dear. (That way the Darkness can be driven out of the land, as soon as its surfacing in the form of a Storm. To be exact: The Darkness drains itself from the land it seeped into in order to take form. But as everything is immune to it, it is unable to. When it tries to go back into the land it cannot, and it breaks down into nothingness. This process repeats until there is no cursed mists left in the land and only then will the world wake up.) It is a powerful spell, but that's why it drains so much from the activator. It also amplifies the carrier's ability to sense both light and darkness, so he can find candidates for its activation. While it's activating everything in its surroundings, will be wrapped in light and be able to understand the general intentions of the device - that it's there to protect._


	4. Chapter 3 - Loving the Thrill

**Loving the Thrill**

Once again Luxu can be seen travelling without actually knowing where he is going end up. He is not even doing his usual jog, in order to be faster. If there weren't a giant forest around him for Zeus knows how many miles, one would assume that he is simply going for a walk.

But his walk has already taken days now and at this point he has already gotten used to the lack of comfort he has at night. Sleeping on a bed made of tree-roots is already nothing new to him anymore.

_*Now, what sound does a pumpkin even make? Can you even _hear_ a plant grow?*, Luxu thinks to himself. _

After he has finally decided to get up at the "impact"-site, he has been glad to see that all of his bones only _feel _broken. Despite the pain he has felt in his every move, he has forced himself to move as quick as he could.

But after running for a while, he still can't hear any sound that isn't supposed to be there. One time he has followed a strange hammering, just to end up looking at a woodpecker. Another time he has heard a river, where he at least has been able stop and drink for a while. In the end, he has given up on running so he can listen to things that are too quiet to hear otherwise.

He stops to listen to his surroundings from time to time, but no matter what he does he just can't hear anything remotely useful. What was he listening for anyways? Pumpkin-Leaves? Or some Bacteria? He just can't wrap his mind around the meaning of the prophecy. It is even less helpful than telling him to "go upwards".

"Aargh! This damn forest just won't end will it!?"

Luxu throws his hands upwards and kicks a tree in frustration.

"_Tch-_"

Just as he hits it, he hears a sound, as if someone isn't a fan of his kick.

"Did I just? …Nah it's nothing."

Luxu looked around, but as he can't see anything, he just shrugs it off.

"Let's see, another hour and I'll rest for today. It's not like I need to _be anywhere_ right now."

He continues onward and is already too far away when a strange creaking can be heard, accompanied by the rustling of leaves.

* * *

It is in the middle of the night, when Luxu wakes up again.

"-stop! …?"

He hasn't slept well tonight. Waking up from a nightmare, he jolts upwards and scanned the surroundings. It takes him a few moments to realise it has just been a dream, but then something else takes his attention.

Looking upwards he sees, that the moon has strange shadows again and they seem to form an evil smile. And in the distance, he can hear rustling coming from bushes.

"What…? Isn't this way too fast!? Or was I just lazing around too much? Damnit, I need to-"

As he is getting up and starting to pack his things, he notices a light coming from beneath the roots he has been lying on. He sees two dark red lights and when Luxu stares at them, two rows of sharp teeth reveal themselves below, what now seem to be eyes.

Luxu takes a sharp breath and starts running. Not looking back, hoping that the monster won't follow him. There's no way he can fight that thing, when a storm is starting.

Then, in front of him, he sees another shadow moving forward from behind a tree. A hand with long fingers is grabbing the tree. Luxu hears a hissing sound and looks closer. It isn't fingers, but snakes holding the tree! And from the creature's feet a small horde of spiders crawl towards Luxu.

"Wha!?"

_*Damnit, I need to get somewhere save!* _

What has been a fast run before, now becomes a full-on sprint and he only stops after he is sure he has lost his pursuers. Hiding behind a tree, he tries to calm down.

"What was that!? I never heard of any darkness like that! And I really should have prepared any form of spell before sleeping!"

Suddenly he can feel a strangely strong gust of wind on his back.

"Who's there!?"

Luxu turns around and sees something that looks like a man without a face a few steps away. Something behind Luxu falls to the ground. When Luxu looks, he sees a pile of bones, that look like they have once belonged to a human.

Before he has any time to understand what is happening, he hears another rustling. The Faceless man is gone, and more skeletons are hanging in his place. Luxu tries to run again, but he slips on some green goo and falls to the ground.

From there he can finally see where the skeletons are coming from, as the tree he has intended to hide behind behind starts moving towards him! His branches, that are decorated with even more hanging skeletons start to surround him. And from the spaces between them more creatures come forward.

One even more terrifying than the other. One is halfway to becoming a skeleton, with rotting flesh falling from his bones. Others are white and transparent. Some more are just white, wearing black cloaks and baring their pointed teeth. Another has a Wolves' head and claws for hands.

Suddenly Luxu is grabbed from behind by two long and bony hands. He is forcefully turned around to look in the black eyeholes of a horrifying face. Its mouth is formed into a grotesque scream, with teeth that look like they are ready to bite Luxu's head off. Behind the creature fire suddenly starts burning, wrapping everything but the creature's face into flames. Faced with such a gruesome scene Luxu starts – Laughing.

The grimace on the creature's face changes from nightmarish to deeply offended and water rains down from above to extinguish the fire

"What!? How can you laugh!? I am the king of terror, the master of nightmares! I'm the pumpkin king! When we saw you, we had everything planned out! You're a guy lost in the woods – you should be terrified out of your mind by now!"

Luxu struggles for air, as he tries to calm down. He answers while still holding his stomach:

"Sorry, sorry! Anyone would be scared to death when they see this, don't worry! It's just when you made that face, you were shining so brightly, there was no way I could believe you would do anything to me!"

"Shining? Of course I was shining! I was _on fire_! Dammit!"

Luxu shakes his head, having somewhat calmed down, but the bone-man in front of him has no intention of doing the same.

"No, I don't mean that kind of light. I didn't realise with the others, but you could say I just saw how much fun you were having…?"

Seeing the appalled expression of the bone-man, he quickly adds.

"It's an ability I have, you weren't _actually_ looking like you were having fun, of course!"

The man opens his mouth, but before he can say anything someone else interrupts.

"Jack, Jack, Jack. Good job, letting all our effort go to waste. I even gave him a nightmare you know. That's why I'm telling you guys, that _I, Oogie Boogie,_ should do the final scare, or else something like this happens!"

A moving cloth bag walks through the crowd surrounding Luxu and Jack. Luxu stares a moment at the bag as if he recognizes him.

"Wait, didn't I see you on the moon?"

"Oh, yes! I hope you had some sweet dreams! Hehe."

Jack glares at the bag.

"You know just as well as me, that something like this has never happened before, Oogie. It was just this guy's strange ability, that he didn't get scared!"

Jack rebukes Oogies argument while pointing at Luxu.

"Power? I don't see anything like that. What are you talking about, Jack? Has your head gone wayhire? Uh, waytire? Uhhh, you know what I'm talking about. Fact is everything was fine, until your part came up and the guy started laughing. Seems like you wasted all of our time!"

Oogie looks around, for someone who would back him up, but when nobody says anything, he lets out a displeased grumble, turns around and walks away.

"Hmpf. Yall, don't see what you're missing out on."

Another person, smaller this time, steps out of the crowd.

"H-Hey, Jack! I know how it turned out, but I for myself thought that was one of your best scares yet."

Approving murmurs can be heard from around and the man continues.

"Well nothing can be done any more about it, so why don't we all just go home for now. You all did great! With this Halloween will be another success this year!"

With this the people start to disperse, with most of them going in the same direction as Oogie Boogie. Eventually, Jack and Luxu are the only ones left and Jack sighted.

"Haah, well looks like it's over, but Oogie will probably become a pain now…"

Jack looks at Luxu.

"I don't think I've properly introduced myself: My name is Jack Skellington, the-"

"Pumpkin King. You said that already. Hello, my name is Luxu, nice to meet you!"

Luxu smiles as he extends a hand towards Jack. Jack is dumbfounded for a moment, but he decides to shake the hand.

"You are a strange one, you know that? I don't think there was ever a target who was able to calmly shake my hand afterwards! But now I really wanna know. Who are you? What are you doing here? There aren't really any visitors around here so how did you get here?"

"Ah… I come from pretty far away actually. There was this guy, who threw me all the way over here… I'm honestly surprised that I'm still alive."

Jacks eyes widen as Luxu speaks and Luxu can see a faint spark lighting up in his eyes.

"He _threw_ you here!? Where do you find people who can do that. Wait – don't tell me here! I want to know everything, so why don't you come to my place!"

Luxu, who is sure the man in front of him is the person he is looking for according to the prophecy, gladly takes jack up on his offer.

"Yes, but you'll have to tell me what's up with all that scaring and Halloween-stuff."

"Yes, of course. I'll tell you, but I asked first!"

Jack laughs and they both go in the direction where the other people have gone before. Going past a great number of trees, the surroundings slowly become darker and the trees look as if they are burned. The ground is becoming muddy as well, and any form of greenery gets more and more scarce until nothing grows at all anymore and there are only the burnt trees left.

Then they finally make it to a clearing, that is filled with many carved stones.

"Is that… a graveyard?"

Luxu frown as he asks this.

"Ah yes! Scary don't you think? We really outdid ourselves when we made this!"

Jack proudly presents him the Graves and Crypts as they pass by them. Some of them also seem to be occupied, because Luxu can feel eyes watching him, from the shadows of the buildings. Jack stops abruptly, when a small ghost appears before him.

"Zero! Didn't I tell you to wait at home!? You couldn't wait for me, could you? Well come here you!"

At first it has seemed like Jack has been intending to reprimand the ghost for not following his orders, but his voice quickly softens, and he tries to hug it instead. But instead of cuddling against Jack the ghost goes straight through him and flies towards Luxu.

Now, that he gets a better look at him, Luxu realises that the ghost is a dog, that now seems to inspect him thoroughly.

"Oh, may I introduce you? This little guy here is Zero, and this is Luxu. He's staying over for today, is that alright Zero?"

The dog finishes his inspection, that has consisted of flying around Luxu and sniffing him from all sides and barks in approval of Jack's words.

"Alright we're almost there now! And before I forget it: Welcome to Halloween Town, the scariest town you'll ever see!"

* * *

"Your travels are amazing Luxu! Compared to that my little town is just a single thread in a cobweb!"

"No way! I've never seen any place, that is even remotely like this! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed anyone who told me about it."

"You're exaggerating. We just love to scare. Speaking of which – the day after tomorrow is actually Halloween, our town festival! When you're here you'll have to see it!"

The conversation goes in an interesting direction and Luxu digs deeper.

"Halloween? What is that? What are you doing there?"

Jack opens his eyes wide in disbelieve, over what Luxu has just asked.

"You don't know what Halloween is!? It's just the single most awesome festival of the year! We're all taking part in it, trying to be as nightmarish as possible! We even went outside of town, to scare you as training!"

"Oh, so that's what happened, huh?"

"Ah, yes. Now that I think about it again, that was one of our best performances so far. How did you see through it again?"

Luxu takes out a necklace from underneath his coat. Attached to it is the Box, that Zeus has hit with his spear. But instead of shining brightly like before, it is now pitch black, with only a few sparks shining inside it.

"It's this device here. It lets me sense… the intentions of the people around me. If they have good or bad ones. Before I could only sense light from you, but it was the opposite from what you looked like, so I couldn't help myself and I started to laugh. Sorry about that again."

Jack shakes his head and starts to look over the device.

"Never mind that. But this device is really interesting! How does it work?"

Jack inquires about the device, but Luxu can only shrug his shoulders.

"Things would be a lot easier if I actually knew that, but unfortunately telling me that was apparently 'too dangerous'."

Jack starts pondering over something.

"Hmm, well if you want someone to look at it, I could introduce you to Dr. Finkelstein. He's pretty holed up in his Lab lately, but I bet he would be eager to look at something like this."

"That would be great actually! Thank you very much!"

Luxu smiles and jumps up from his chair when he says this.

_*I don't think anyone but the master could ever really understand how the device works, but any little information helps.* _

"Alright, then it's settled! But for now, we'll have to wait, it's the middle of the day after all. Let's just sleep for now, and don't worry there won't be any nightmares this time!"

Just now noticing, how tired he is, Luxu looks outside the window.

"Hey, shouldn't the sun be up then?"

"Ah, well. You see, around here the difference between day and night is just if it's more or less dark. You won't see the sun anytime soon."

Scanning the sky for a few moments, Luxu really is unable to find any trace of the sun, so he shrugs his shoulders and follows Jack who shows him to his bed.

* * *

Luxu is woken up by a strange sensation around his nose. When he opens his eyes, he sees the ceiling, but it's obscured by a white silhouette that drools some sort of ectoplasm on his face.

Luxu jolts upwards wanting to push away the dog that is hovering above him, but he goes right through. Zero on the other hand, gives off a happy bark and flies towards the door, urging Luxu to come with him.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming. Just… give me a minute."

Luxu yawns and stretches himself before he gets up and follows the dog. Zero guides him to another room where Jack already tinkers with a strange pot, wearing what somewhat resembles an apron.

"Oh, Luxu you're up! I woke up early today, and thought, that you might be hungry after your journey. So, I made you my favourite meal, I hope you like it!"

Luxu peeks inside the pot and everything he sees almost screams death and poison. All sorts of chunks are swimming in a dark green steaming broth and Luxu is sure some of those chunks are still moving.

He looks back up at Jack who seems to expect a compliment and tries to think of anything he could say to get out of this. Unable to come up with anything honest, he resorts to a lie.

"Could you turn up the heat some more? I like my food almost burned."

Luxu doesn't care how stupid it sounds. He is hungry, but not hungry enough to die for a meal. However, Jack reacts different from what he expects.

"Really!? That's some strange taste you have, as expected of a traveller! Alright! Just tell me when I should stop!"

After that Jack puts some more wood in a fire beneath the pot and only when Luxu can't see any movement at all inside the pot anymore, does he tell him to stop.

* * *

A while later two people can be seen walking out of a grey house on a plaza made of dark rocks. The tall one is lost in thought, pondering about whether the meal he has had, has had any of its usual taste, or if it has simply been too bland.

Whereas the other just wishes to forget the terrible meal and hopes he will survive the next few hours. Together they walk towards another house on the plaza and the tall one starts talking.

"Well, I haven't actually seen Dr. Finkelstein as of late. Sometimes he just holes himself up inside his laboratory for weeks at a time. He is probably snowed under with research, so it might be difficult to get his attention… But on the other hand, there's no way that this box of yours will _not_ get his attention!"

Having said that, Jack knocks on the door. When he gets no answer, he doesn't hesitate to just go inside. It seems, as if he has done this many times before, because he signs Luxu to follow him and together they go up the stairs. Up there, he knocks on another door, but doesn't wait for an answer this time and just goes inside. However, there he abruptly stops, so Luxu can't see inside the room.

"Dr. Finkelstein!? I… didn't know you were into that kind of thing."

"What do you mean 'that kind of thing?', can't you tell I'm busy!? Who let you in anyways?"

Luxu peeks past Jack inside the room and sees a small person in a wheelchair turning around and furiously gesticulating at Jack. On his lap is an arm that twitches when one of the gesticulating hands accidentally hits it.

"Father? Who are these people?"

Behind Dr. Finkelstein a one-armed figure gets up from what looks to be an operating table. Jack on the other hand is unable to comprehend the scene that unfolds before his eyes.

"Father!?"

Dr. Finkelstein turns around.

"Sally, why are you getting up!? I told you to lie down! You're going to fall apart if you're not careful! Look! Your arm is already coming loose! I wasn't finished there, so stay still, ok?"

The small man sounds angry at first, but his worry is quickly taking over.

"Hey, you two! Help her lie down, will you!?"

Jack and Luxu quickly follow his commands and help her. Sally looks a little scared at the two people who came towards her.

"Don't worry, Sally."

Dr. Finkelstein glanced at Luxu.

"You don't have to be afraid of them. I'll have you fixed in no time, so let them help you, alright?"

Sally looks at her father, and then gives Jack and Luxu a hesitant nod. Those two take it as permission to come closer and they help her lie down. After they are finished, Dr. Finkelstein signall them to step aside.

"Sally, you can't just stand up when I'm in the middle of redoing your stiches. You don't want your limbs to fall off!"

The Doctor keeps reprimanding her, while fixing her arms and Jack and Luxu both decide to wait until he is finished. But Luxu is lost in thought anyways, as he has already noticed something else: The device reacts to Sally. So, he tries to think of a way to get her to activate it while waiting.

After a while Dr. Finkelstein is finished with his stitching – and his lecture. When he finally turns away from the table, Jack starts questioning him.

"Dr. Finkelstein, I never knew you had a daughter. And since when is she living with you? I have never seen her before!"

"Of course, you haven't, I just made her two months ago."

Luxu, who is preoccupied with his own plotting, doesn't have the capacity to think about what Dr. Finkelstein has just said. It would have been pointless anyways. There's no way he would understand someone who talks about _making _a person.

But to Luxu her origins aren't important. The only thing he has to know, is that she could save this place. So, he tries to lead the conversation instead of Jack.

"So she is a little child? She sure doesn't look like one-"

"Now, you better watch your mouth boy!"

Luxu is interrupted before he can say anything else.

"Who are you anyways? I haven't seen _you_ around town either."

Jack answers Dr. Finkelstein instead of Luxu

"Doctor, I haven't had the chance to introduce a visitor of our town, yet! This here is Luxu. He wandered around in the woods, when we found him."

"Hmm, and I don't suppose you just took him here just to introduce us?"

Dr. Finkelstein is quick to catch on and gets to the point.

"Yes! You're right, when we found him, we tried to scare him – you know – as training for the festival. But according to him, thanks to this device here", Jack points at Luxu's chest, where the now-glowing box is hanging, "he managed to see through us and I, uh, we failed to scare him."

Jack staggers at the part of the story, where he has been unable to give Luxu a scare, still being flustered about it.

"Luxu himself doesn't know how it works, so I took him to you, because there's nothing you don't know, right?"

When Jack points at the device, he has already lost Dr. Finkelstein, as he starts to closely inspect it without paying attention to Jack anymore. Luxu keeps quiet, hoping that the Doctor could tell him something useful if he doesn't interrupt him.

"Interesting… Hmm… You said this device lets you see people's intentions?"

Dr. Finkelstein doesn't look up, when he asks this, however Luxu still answers.

"Not exactly. It just lets me see if a person's intent is malicious or not, but not the full extent of its nature. If a person is shining brightly, it could have many reasons. It generally means they are good-hearted, however."

That about sums up everything the master has told Luxu about the device's detection-ability.

"But is that the only thing it does? It feels like there's more to it…"

Surprised about how Dr. Finkelstein can see through the device, Luxu explains further.

"Yes, that's right. It's also there to absorb Light and change it into a power to fight darkness."

He omits the part, where it is meant to fight a _specific _kind of darkness.

"Yes, it does seem like that. Honestly, I have no idea how this thing works, I'm sorry I can't help. But wouldn't the light it gives off mean, that it's leaking all the time?"

"Hmm, now that you mention it… That might be a problem, actually… Thank you for noticing that, I never thought about it like that!"

After Dr. Finkelstein rolls backwards in his chair, Luxu looks at the device himself.

_*I could use the leaking energy for something else, if I draw some runes around the device. Or rather I should do that. During a storm, the darkness might find me if the device shines too brightly. But I'll think about it, when I have the time. For now, I have something else to do.*_

"So, are we finished here?"

Dr. Finkelstein has already turned around and is driving back towards Sally, who is still obediently sitting on the table.

"Come Sally, I'll have you read some more books."

Jack still looks conflicted about what to think of Dr. Finkelstein's daughter, so Luxu steps forward.

"Dr. Finkelstein, I'm interested: How did you get the idea to make your daughter, Sally?"

"What do you mean how? I had the parts, so I made her. Also, these old bones of mine, could really need an assistant!"

Luxu is sure, that there is more to it that Dr. Finkelstein is willing to say, but that isn't the point he wants to get at anyways.

"She may be an assistant someday, but right now she is still just a child, isn't she? But children also need to get outside a little, wouldn't you agree? She might not become the kind of dependable help you want, if everything she does all day is reading books."

With Luxu's words Sally's eyes begin to sparkle.

"Nonsense! My Sally doesn't need something like that. Besides, you saw what happened before – she isn't ready for that!"

Now Jack joins in on the conversation.

"Dr. Finkelstein! If she is already here, the Halloween-Festival tomorrow is a must-see! I know she'll love it!"

"And if you're worried about her, I'll keep her save. See it as thanks for looking over the device."

Dr. Finkelstein's glance darts between Jack and Luxu and when he looks at Sally, whose eyes are begging him to say yes, he gives in.

"Pah. Alright, alright. She can go, but I'll be going as well, just in case."

Sally stands up, beaming with joy, and kneels down to hug Dr. Finkelstein.

"Thank you, father! Thank you so much!"

Dr. Finkelstein starts lecturing her again.

"Careful now Sally! You won't be able to make it until tomorrow if you rip all your stiches today!"

Jack and Luxu look at each other and smiled. But then Jack remembers something and sprints towards the door.

"Oh, right! I still need to rehearse with the others. Halloween's tomorrow after all! Well then, have a great day today and I shall see you all tomorrow!"

He is already running down the stairs, when he has said that. And then a door can be heard closing downstairs.

"…Aand, he's gone. Well, it seems like I'm free right now. Doctor, is there anything I can help you with, in order to prepare for tomorrow?"

"Well, there actually is…"

And like that Luxu spends the rest of the day with Dr. Finkelstein and Sally.

* * *

"What's this father? It looks so strange!"

Sally is walking into the plaza and is running towards the fountain in the middle as soon as she has seen it.

"Sally! Be a good girl now and don't overexert yourself. You _do_ want to see the festival in the evening, right?"

Sally looks back at Dr. Finkelstein and is startled when she hears what he had to say.

"Yes of course. I'm sorry father."

When she looks around, she notices, that other people she doesn't know, are looking at her as well. She quickly returns to Dr. Finkelstein to push the wheelchair, who starts to talk again

"When, we're already outside, I'll show you around town for today, so you won't get lost if I send you out to fetch something. And you, boy, just watch out in case something happens, alright?"

Luxu, who is walking beside those two gave him a small nod.

"Yeah, but what is supposed to happen anyways?"

"You never know. Folks around here tend to get… overly excited for the festival. Sally, drive through that gate, will you?"

Dr. Finkelstein leaves his statement vague like that and points Sally in the direction he wants to go.

They continue to stroll around town, and Dr. Finkelstein talks a lot about where to find witch ingredient, or who is living in which house. But with people he limits it to the ones, that he sometimes needs to get stuff from. They continue to walk until they reach the edge of the forest, that surround the village.

"…and here's the last part of the trip. This is the furthest you will go, you hear me Sally? Don't you get lost in the woods now."

"Yes Father…"

With this never-ending stream of information, Sally's gaze has become somewhat blank. She is still looking around attentively from time to time. But it seems she has reached her limit. Or so Luxu thought, but when she realizes that it is over, Sally reawakens her excitement.

"Really!? So we're going to see the Festival now?"

"Yes, yes. I take it you still remember the way back, Child?"

Dr. Finkelstein asks her a final question which she answers gleefully, "Yes! I do!" They both turn around and walk towards the Plaza.

In the meantime, Luxu glances at the device in his hand, being relieved that Sally's light is rekindled, as it is absorbed and reflected in the device.

When he looks around the place it feels strangely familiar. There are tall tombstones, that look like coffins, which are standing upright, gathered around a gate. He tries to remember what it is, but whenever he thinks he had it, the memory slips away again. After a while he gives up and goes after the other two.

* * *

"Huh, the plaza looks different now."

"Well, like I said people get overly excited for this every year… We just came at the nick of time though. The festival is already starting."

While Luxu and Dr. Finkelstein are talking, Sally is gaping at everything around her. The whole plaza has been decorated with little pumpkins and there are many more spiderwebs than before, hanging like garlands from fence-pole to fence pole. Every free place has been stuffed with candles as well, so there are flickering shadows everywhere.

"Sally, your mouth will fall off if you open it any further. Let's go over there."

Dr. Finkelstein points at a bench, to the side of the plaza. When they arrive there, the music already begins and from everywhere, creatures come into view.

At first it is an incoherent mass of claws, fangs and glares, trying to outperform each other, but then the ghosts start singing. After that the other creatures join in on the tune and the big choreography can be discerned.

Sally watches it all, mesmerized by it and Luxu secretly glances at the device, that begins shining brighter and brighter.

Suddenly Jack emerges from the crowd, once again wrapped in flames. During his performance he slowly makes his way towards Sally, who can't take her eyes off him. Then the time for the grand finale comes and Jack jumps through a waterspout towards Sally, with the scariest face Luxu has seen so far.

Luxu takes the opportunity and holds the device towards Sally.

Jacks face freezes and everything becomes silent, while the light of the device wraps the whole town and beyond in a bright light. Sally and Luxu are the only ones still moving and she gives Luxu a bewildered look. She covers her face in embarrassment as she starts talking.

"What…!? I just felt that I wanted to be with everyone in this town forever! …and now… I can help everyone to make sure it happens!? Thank you! I'm so glad that you found this place, Luxu!"

Still ordering her thoughts, she looks at Luxu for a moment and then starts walking towards Jack, who stands before her with raised arms and a horrific grimace on his face.

"But I really just wanted to look at you for as long as I could, didn't I?"

When she raises an arm to touch Jacks face, it suddenly falls to the ground lifelessly. Luxu jumps towards her, in order to catch her, as she loses her balance.

"Sally! Be careful, the spell really drains people, so don't move!"

Sally smiles at Luxu, while he lowers her to the ground. Her legs have already fallen off and the strings around her neck are coming loose.

"I think it's a little late for that. I can barely hold on to my consciousness anymore. But don't worry, I'll be alright… I'm sure father will be able to fix me. He… always… does…"

When she closes her eyes, Luxu is suddenly shoved aside.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SALLY! Get away from her, you brute!"

Luxu hasn't noticed that time has started running again and can only watch when Dr. Finkelstein jumped out of his wheelchair, to look at Sally. Blood starts leaving Luxu's face as he starts to realize what just happened.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know this would happen…! I really didn't!"

Luxu tries to apologise, but Dr. Finkelstein just glares at him.

"Just get her to my lab RIGHT NOW! And you, Jack, put me in my chair!"

Jack who has been frozen stiff in shock, quickly follows his orders. And while the two of them rush towards the laboratory, Luxu takes off his coat and uses it to carry all of Sally's body parts into the lab as well. But before he can say anything more, he and Jack are quickly thrown out of the Lab.

"As if I would let you touch one more leaf of Sally's body! Scram! Both of you!"

And like that Jack and Luxu keep sitting in front of the door for a while. Jack is the first one to break the heavy silence.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Dr. Finkelstein will fix her in no time. He _is _a genius Doctor after all."

Despite his confident words, the look on Jacks face is worried. Luxu on the other hand is still caught up on his guilt.

"I'm sorry for what happened. I really didn't think the toll it would take on Sally to cast the spell would be so great. I really shouldn't have come near her."

Jack, who doesn't get what exactly Luxu is talking about, focuses on the last bit.

"No matter what happened, that's just wrong. I don't know why, but suddenly Sally is lying before me and what do I see? She is smiling at you, before she closes her eyes. And then you did everything you could to help. So, I know, that whatever that was, meeting you was a good thing for her"

Hearing Jacks words, tears start running down Luxu's face.

"Thank you, Jack… You're right."

Luxu wipes them away.

"What Sally did, was good. And I just need to remember this, so I don't make the same mistake another time."

He stands up and looks at the door for a moment. Then he turns around and takes a few steps away from it.

"Hey, Jack I wish you all the best. I think it's time for me to move to the next place."

"You're travelling again? Oh, I really wish I could come with you."

Luxu turns around.

"What's holding you back?"

Jack raises his arms to decline Luxu's offer.

"You know, the people here depend on me. I can't just up and vanish on them. Also, I'll have to stay behind and apologise to Dr. Finkelstein and Sally for the both of us."

"Oh, alright. Please do that for me. But instead of an apology, tell Sally I said thank you."

Luxu already knows it won't come to that, as he will be forgotten. Still he feels it is necessary to at least say his thoughts out loud.

"Will do. But do you already know where to go from here?"

"Yeah, I think I have an idea… So, I guess this is farewell. It was nice meeting you!"

"The honour is all mine. I wish you best of luck on your travels!"

With those words, Luxu leaves the plaza behind and goes towards the graveyard. He has finally understood why the place with the massive gravestones has seemed strangely familiar. He starts repeating another prophecy inside his head.

Sadly, you must run in shame,

as there is no one else to blame.

You are overshadowed by a grave,

but at least another place is save.

Run along the trees into the night

and escape this town of fright,

until you make it to a clearance,

where the trees have a different appearance.

Each of them marked with another door,

but all of them you can ignore,

as they have been saved just before.

So, walk past them once more

and look beneath a tree,

there lies another path for thee.

After a while he finally makes it to the clearing with the strange trees. On each of them is a different picture and a doorknob. Being curious, he peeks inside one and is greeted with a gust of cold wind.

_*Looks like I really don't need to worry. The spell even reached inside here… And it looks like the kind of place where even Jack can have his adventure…heh* _

With a smile on his face Luxu closes the door and started looking for a hidden passage. After finding it, he takes a deep breath to prepare himself and goes through.

* * *

_Author's Gibberish:_

_Looks like I finally managed another chapter… I'm kinda proud of this one, as it feels like it really makes sense as an origin-story for many of the characters. Of course, there are still a few missing parts, but I feel like this is a good base for imagination… But that might just be me ^^°_

_By the way, did you know that Hercules had a TV-Series? Well I didn't. At first I thought I could do what I want with Poseidon – the third brother – as there never was any mention of him. But in an effort to stay as canon as possible, I had to give up on my first character death. It wasn't easy, I tell you. Also, Chronus' appearance was based on a single picture of a stone that appeared in the TV-show._

_Regarding references, I tried to base the scene where Luxu was "hunted" in the woods on the intro song to "Nightmare before Christmas". Some – but not all – elements made it into the final scene though… And the biggest leap of faith I made was, that Oogie Boogie's relationship with the rest of the town had been better in the past. But then again, he was part of the intro of "Nightmare Before Christmas" so I thought, he had to work together with the others sometimes. But I still didn't mention him after his first appearance, because I wanted to focus on Sally and he didn't fit in her story, sadly._

_Also, I like how the prophecies themselves have become the passageways to the next worlds. It's as if they themselves have the power take Luxu where he needs to be._


	5. Chapter 4 - Helping Hands

**Helping Hands**

"And the hidden Passage leads – to another forest! Great. A change of pace would have been nice, you know? Haaah…"

Luxu kicks a stone against another tree and sights.

"…Well. At least the trees aren't the kind that respond to being hit…"

He looks at the tree for a moment, expecting to be proven wrong. After nothing happens, he starts walking. But it only takes a few steps until he has another idea.

"Maybe there is another door I can go through, back at the clearing?"

He turns around to look for the entrance he has just gotten through, but it is nowhere to be found.

_*Great. Juust great.*_

He thinks to himself, as he inspects the tree where it should have been, but there is no hint of the tree being more than average.

_*I'll just take it as a sign, that I should be moving on.*_

Luxu looks up, towards the sky.

*I mean it's brighter than in Halloween Town for sure, but I still can't see any sign of the sun. What is this place?*

Thanks to his experiences in Halloween Town, he is now able to discern the surrealness of his environment a little better than before. There is also a fog surrounding him. It isn't very thick. Just enough to make it difficult to see places that are more distant. Luxu has also gotten used to not knowing where he is going: He has simply choses a direction and now tries his best to stick with it without walking in circles.

After a while Luxu notices, that someone is watching him. But in accordance with his training, he treats whatever it is like a Darkness and ignores it. He continues to walk a straight line without letting his course be altered by the creatures around him.

Not too far away, an owl is sitting on a tree. Despite the fact, that it is daytime, the owl is wide awake. After all, someone has barged into its territory. The owl doesn't feel any ill will from the black-robed person, but that isn't comforting at all, as it normally can feel the intent of anyone – no matter who it is. Also, this place isn't something anyone could just barge into. It is _her _domain, and she isn't keen on sharing it.

The owl leaps from a tree, just to fall towards the ground. But just before hitting it, it changes into a fog cloud, that quickly melds together with the rest of the fog. Suddenly a few feet away a wolf steps forward from behind a tree. Its' eyes are just as fixated on Luxu as the owls' and it slowly walks towards him. Walking behind another tree, the wolf vanishes and out comes a weasel, that sneaks even closer.

Realizing, that ignoring it is pointless, Luxu stops.

"Come out whoever you are! I am lost and could use some directions."

Hoping, that it isn't a monster coming after him, Luxu tries to sound as harmless as he can be. He is feeling a strong force surrounding him, so he doesn't know what to expect from his observer. Even more so, because he can't make out the creatures' position, which makes it difficult to look into its heart.

Suddenly, before Luxu can react, a bright and golden light appeares in front of Luxu, casting away all the surrounding mists.

"WHO DARES TO SNEAK INTO MY DOMAIN AND COMMAND ME TO DO HIS BIDDING!? SHOW YOURSELF OR YOU SHALL PAY FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!"

Startled, Luxu immediately throws back his hood and tries to apologise.

"I'm deeply sorry! I didn't mean to sneak anywhere! I went here through an old door and before I realized, it vanished, I swear!"

While Luxu is talking, the light starts to fade, and he can make out a woman in yellow robes stepping forward.

"Hmm, now that I can perceive your heart, I know you are telling no lie."

The woman starts walking around him, while observing his every move. It seems his words – or rather revealing himself – has calmed her down a bit. Or so Luxu thought, but what comes back forward from behind him, isn't a woman but a wolf.

"But for someone who can hide his intentions as well as you, it might not be difficult to make his own heart a lie. And what oath can I trust from a person I have never seen before?"

"_Hiding me_ is the coat's power, not my own! I use it to escape the eyes of dark forces, so I can slip past them. And if it's an oath you want-"

Luxu takes out the Device he carries as a necklace

"-I swear on this, that my words are true!"

The wolf comes closer, intrigued by the white shimmer the Box gives off.

"I can indeed feel a strange power emanating from it, but by no means does it-"

The wolf falls silent as if it has noticed something. Meanwhile the light of the Device starts pulsating.

"…It's strange. It's as if this thing is reflecting my own …heart? No. Not reflecting it. It is even purifying it, creating this pure white light!"

The wolf stares up at Luxu, as if it ponders over something. Luxu hopes it isn't about what its next meal will be. Looking as if it has made up its mind, it turns around and while it walks away, fog gathers around it. Before long it becomes a woman again.

"I see what you mean now. It is difficult to imagine the carrier of such a Device as someone harmful. After all I can feel, this Device has great power to do good, but not to do bad. Come now, follow me. While you are here, I can offer you a place to sleep. People call me the Enchantress by the way – so what is your name?"

Luxu follows behind her.

"I'm Luxu and thank you for your offer. I'll take you up on that."

They continue their conversation while walking for a while.

"Honestly, if it wasn't for my ability to see a persons' heart, I would never have accepted the Device as an oath. You might be lucky to still be alive, if things went badly."

Luxu smirks at the words of the Enchantress.

"Well, I _knew_ about your ability. After all you have the same look I have, when I look at someone's' heart."

The Enchantress, who is still walking in front, looks back at him with a surprised look on her face and Luxu continues.

"It's another ability I got from the Device. Thanks to that I could also see that you wouldn't try to take it once you knew what it was. Even after your loud entrance."

The Enchantress turns back forward again, and they become silent for a moment.

"…I'll take that as a compliment. Now tell me again, where _did _you come from? And where are you going?"

Luxu is at a loss at how to best explain his journey so far, as he himself doesn't quite understand what is going on.

"It's difficult to explain… I was at a place with no sun, like this one, but it was much darker. Well, at first it seemed like that, but in contrast the people there were extremely bright… After finishing my task there, I continued through a door and ended up here."

"It feels like you're trying to leave out some details there, but I won't pry any further if you don't want to say it. But what was your task there, if I may ask?"

A conflicted look appears on Luxu's face. He doesn't want to talk too much about this, as he might needlessly scare people. And panic doesn't really help with his task.

"To activate the Device here. It will cast a spell, to protect the Land from a Storm, that is coming."

The Enchantress smirks at him and Luxu is glad to see that she is still calm and collected.

"You are awfully honest."

"It just feels like it would be useless to try and lie to you."

"You're right, it _would_ be useless, but in my experience normally people would still try. Anyways we're here."

Luxu is trying to make out what exactly 'here' is, but he only sees branches that are crudely formed like different furniture.

"What? Did you expect a castle or something? Why would I bother with something like that? Sit down over there, I will make you something to drink."

Unsure what to say, Luxu sits down on a chair-like tree-branch and waits for the Enchantress.

"Now, that we're here, I can finally get a closer look at you. Here, your drink, now wait a second… Also, how about you hang that coat up over there?"

After giving Luxu a cup of some kind of potion, the Enchantress turns into a raven and points at a clothes tree with her wing. Luxu is unsure, what she is up to, but sees no reason distrust her for now. He takes off his coat, sits back down to drink the potion.

After finishing the cup, he starts glowing, and steaming from his skin. The vapour forms many different streams around his body. Many of them flow between him and the Device. But even more flow around Luxu alone. The vapor only moves at a slow pace, but what it lacks in speed it makes up with being so murky, that it seems almost solid. The fact that it constantly changes shape and glows faintly makes a different impression though.

"What is this?"

Luxu looks down on himself and tries touching the fog, but it's always changing shape, and so he is always a finger-width away from grabbing it. The raven hops onto his shoulder and bends down to look at the Device attached to Luxu's necklace.

"Interesting… I have never seen so many enchantments on a single person before… Many of them seem to bind you and the Device together. Others, however, were cast on you alone."

The enchantress hops off Luxu's shoulder towards the ground and turns into a wolf again. She starts sniffing the fog, which doesn't seem to be bothered by her.

"I think I understand now, how you reached this place. Someone cast a multitude of enchantments on you to change… your fate. But it would need at least _some_ form of medium. And it's not the Device… Did anything special happen, when you found the door? Can you think of something? It could be an animal that walked by, or even a part of your body that felt different from usual."

"No, not really. I simply recited the…"

Luxu opens his eyes widely as if he just has realised something,

"…prophecy."

He looks at the wolf.

"Is that possible? My master made me remember a lot of prophecies. Can they be the medium?"

The wolf sits down and ponders over Luxu's question.

"Hmm, quite possibly. But it takes a lot of skill to manage that. Even more so, if you didn't even notice yourself… who was your master again?"

"You wouldn't know him I think; he came from a place far away. He never told me his real name either."

The wolf walks towards a chair in front of Luxu, turning into the Enchantress, that seems to brood over something.

"And your… master prepared all this to send you on your mission? It must be quite a task."

"Yes… I'm just starting to understand how lacking I am. If it wasn't for masters' and others' help, I would have been lost already."

With a pained expression on his face, the Enchantress feels she has to say something.

"And, still your master trusts, that you will manage all of it, otherwise he wouldn't have cast these many spells on you."

She looks into the distance as she continues.

"I on the other hand struggle with casting a single one…"

"What do you mean?"

The Enchantress looks back at Luxu and smiled.

"It's nothing. You don't need to concern yourself with the ramblings of an old woman. Now, where were we… Ah right, that task you have and how you need all the help you can get. Well, as a fellow sorceress I understand how important it must be, for your master to go to these lengths. So, I can offer you a small enchantment of my own, if you like. I mean, one more doesn't really matter at this point, right? But it's less than an enchantment and more like a simple protective charm."

A conflicted expression can be seen on Luxu's face again.

"I don't like being in other people's debt, if I'm not sure whether I can ever return it… But at this point I should start counting my blessings… So, yes. I would appreciate your help."

"Good then hold still for a moment and let me see that Device of yours."

The Enchantress takes out a Rose from her garments and bends forward, to reach out towards the Device.

"What's with the Rose?"

"This? I got it from an acquaintances place. Don't worry, I can get another one any time I want. I'll use this as my medium. When I'm done it will be so tightly connected to the Device, you won't even notice it's there anymore. Now be quiet, I need to concentrate."

The enchantress closes her eyes and moves her mouth in a silent prayer. The Rose starts giving off a golden glow as it slowly wraps itself around the top of the Device, where it connects to the necklace.

When the spell is finished the Enchantress opens her eyes again.

"…It's done. It won't hold as long as your other spells, but it will keep you away from danger for a while."

Luxu looks at the Device, with its new attachment.

"My enchantment is kept alive through the emanating light of the Device by the way. It's just a little, so there shouldn't be a problem."

Looking up again, Luxu asks the Enchantress.

"You actually use the power of the Device? Can you teach me how to do that as well? Sometimes I really wish I could control it better, if I want to hide it for example. I thought about using runes, but I don't know how I could make it work…"

"Runes? I can't help you with those directly, but if you really know something like that, you might be able to come up with something yourself, if I try to explain my enchantment… If we're lucky, we might manage, before time is up."

"What do you mean? Do you need to be somewhere?"

The Enchantress shakes her head.

"No, it's _you_ who are going to be somewhere. Wherever you've come from, this place isn't where you're headed. As this is my domain, I can clearly see, that you aren't exactly _here_. You could say, that you're still going through that door you talked about before. I don't know if it was also your master's doing, or simple coincidence. But having seen his work, I doubt that there is much, that he leaves to chance. What I _can _tell you is, that you've come from a distant past. Where you are going to, I cannot say though, as I have never perceived any place like it before."

Hearing the Enchantress' honest opinion, Luxu gets disheartened a little. He has always considered it a possibility, but all the enchantments on him leave no room for doubt anymore.

"…So I really am just dancing in my masters palm, aren't I? Me and the Device are all the same to him, just tools to be used…"

The woman in front of him gives him a sad and knowing smile. She herself understands best, how easily these kinds of powers can destroy another person's life.

"…You are quite lucky you know? The spells your master cast on you, aren't shackles to tie you down. They do not force you to take the path he foretold for you. You can ultimately choose to ignore those prophecies any time they come to you. That is not how it usually is with enchantments. I almost envy the skill needed for such a feat, but I can only imagine how much effort he must have spent on them. If you really are a tool, then you are one like no other, with a lifetimes worth of work spent on you."

Luxu thinks about her words and eventually looks to the ground, a bit ashamed to so easily doubt his master, like a child blaming its parent for things it has no power over.

"…It almost feels like I'm talking to my master. Just the part, where he's always making bad jokes is missing."

Her sad smile becomes a bit warmer now.

"You telling me that, makes me feel like I saved at least some face. As an old lady I mean. Seeing the work of that master of yours, I was taken back to my own humble beginnings. It seems like there is much to learn. And on that note, we should get right to it."

Luxu stands up, ready to get to work, and bows.

"Yes, of course! Pleas teach me!"

"Not so fast, let me think for a bit first!"

Luxu sits down, looking as if he wants to say something. But then decides to just wait, as she has asked.

"…Hmm. I think the spell the Device is most compatible with, would be a forgetting-spell."

Luxu couldn't quite follow.

"A forgetting spell?"

"Because if my hunch is correct, the light of the Device stems from the wish to protect something, am I right?"

After Luxu gives her a confirming nod, she continued.

"The wish_ to protect someone_ can be quite easily reshaped into the wish_ to make someone forget something bad that happened_. It's at least easier, than the transforming spell – the other spell that I'm good at. With the time we have I think we should focus on that. Is that alright?"

"Yes of course! Something like that would be quite useful I believe."

With that the Enchantress finally gets up.

"Please remind me afterwards, that I already showed you."

"What do you-"

Suddenly the Enchantress punches a tree without holding back.

"Argh! Good, that hurts."

A little teary eyed she heals her hand, and then continues to grab the Device hanging on Luxu's chest. Realising what she meant, he watches closely, as the Device's light is channelled by the Enchantress. It envelopes her head and her expression becomes somewhat blank. After the Device falls out of her hand again, she starts talking again.

"Please remind me -"

Luxu reaches out his hand to stop her fist this time.

"-That you already showed me. You did, thank you."

The Enchantress gives off a relieved sigh.

"Oh, good. I really didn't want to do this. I hope you looked closely, as I erased my memory?"

Luxu nods.

"Yes I did, but just as you said it will take a while until I can make sense of it and use it for my own runes… I hope you would be able to guide me a little longer."

The enchantress answers with a satisfied nod.

"That's what I intended to do all along. There's not much else to do here anyways."

They continue their training as time flies by. But Luxu barely notices as there is no sun or clock to tell him.

* * *

"…Alright this should be enough. It's time for you to sleep. You can barely hold your eyes open!"

It is true, that Luxu would fall asleep the moment he stops forcing himself, but he doesn't want to let this chance slip by.

"There is nothing I can teach you for now anyways. The rest you'll have to do yourself."

Luxu sights.

"Haah, ok, I believe you. I'll go to…"

Luxu falls as he closes his eyes and is caught by the Enchantress.

"I wondered when it would happen… You exhausted yourself way too much, during the training."

She carries him to a bed made of branches.

"Now, you at least got the method down. To improve it, you'll just have to train a bit more."

After putting him there, she transforms into a wolf again to lie down and thinks to herself.

_*You'll have to go the rest of the way yourself, I'm afraid. Part of me wishes that you won't have to use the Rose I gave you… But with a path ahead like yours, you will need it I'm sure. Something tells me we will meet again… Is it the enchantments by your master? That would mean, that even I am just part of the story he had spun… Well, there is no point in overthinking it, so I'll just let this go…*_

* * *

Luxu wakes up, not in a bed, but on wet and grassy ground. For some reason he wears his coat again, that he has taken off previously. When he looks around, he could see that he has slept next to a track meant for carriages. Some trees are scattered besides the path, but not to a point, where it could be called a forest anymore.

If he hadn't talked with the enchantress about this, he would have thought his meeting with her has just been a dream. Then again, he has even learned a little bit more about how to use the Device, so he might have considered that the meeting could be real.

Luxu gets up and notices that he feels strangely full of energy.

"Did she do something after I fell asleep? Looks like she is really keen on putting me in her debt."

Luxu is smiling as he checks if anything else is different. After finding nothing special, he stretches for a moment and takes the path in downhill direction.

"No way will I go up if I don't have to."

While jogging he soon comes across a horse-driven carriage driving upwards. It is made of wood with a cloth covering most of it. Steering it is a bearded middle-aged man who doesn't let Luxu out of his sight as soon as he notices him. Luxu throws back his hood and tries to be as inconspicuous as he can when he asks the coachman.

"Good morning, unfortunately I'm lost. Could you tell me which direction I am going right now?"

The coachman gives him a suspicious and stern look.

"Lost, eh? How can ya not know the way towards London? Ya betta' stay away from me carriage. I got no time to deal with vagrants like you!"

Luxu doesn't want to push his luck so he steps out of the way, as the coachman spurs his horse to ride faster. He sights and continues to jog downhill. Whenever he comes to a fork, he chooses the bigger street leading downwards. He might be able to blend in better when there are more people around.

A while later he can hear some noise behind him, and the desperate screams of a young man can be heard.

"Out of the way! I can't control the horses anymore!"

Luxu jumps and a second later a carriage rushes through the place where he has stood before. The carriage this time looks more elegant as the last one. It is made from metal, with a space meant for transporting people inside, that can be accessed through a door on the side.

Seeing the black man, desperately struggling to regain control over the horses, who are apparently running in fear from something, Luxu decides to help out.

He uses an ice spell to create a sheet of ice he can slip down on, slowly catching up to the carriage. The horses look at him in fear when he catches up to them, but they can only run straight ahead. The coachman on the other hand has a baffled look on his face, and just stares at Luxu in disbelief.

Luxu himself jumps onto the back of one of the two horses and uses the light of the Device to erase the memories of the horses, to calm them down. They stop their sprint and become slower until they eventually stand still.

"What just…!"

Before the man can continue, Luxu jumps towards him and erases his memory of 'magic' as well. As long as Luxu doesn't know about the situation of this place, he doesn't want any extra attention. Due to Luxu's magic, the excitement on the man's face is replaced by thankfulness.

"…happened…?"

He looks as if he is trying to piece together everything he knows.

"It was _you_! You calmed the horses down! Thank you so much! Are you okay!? How did you even get on them!? Oh, no!"

The man looks shocked as if he just has forgotten something important. He jumps off the carriage and runs towards the door as he shouts.

"Mr. and Mrs. Greystoke! Are you alright!?"

A woman's voice answers him from inside the carriage.

"Yes, we're alright, it was just a bumpy ride, that's all!"

While the coachman hastily opens the door, another voice, that seems to be even more panicked than the coachman's, questions the woman further.

"Are you sure!? I'll have James get the doctor here! You just sit and wait!"

The woman has no intention to listen to his request though.

"Oh come on, darling it will be fine! We're almost at the town, no point in making it more difficult than it is. Thank you, James."

With the help of the coachman, who is apparently named James, a young pregnant woman steps out of the carriage.

"But-"

Mrs. Greystoke looks back inside the carriage, to interrupt the source of the voice.

"No 'but's! We'll just rest here for a moment and drive on later. I'm getting hungry anyways."

Another person appears at the door.

"Oh, alright. But as soon as you feel something, you tell me! And James would you be so kind as to introduce us to our saviour here, before preparing lunch?"

James has already been on the way to the back of the carriage, but quickly turns around.

"Yes, of course! I would have almost forgotten!"

Luxu has just stepped down the coachman's spot, when James comes towards him.

"Sir, could you spare a moment to meet the people you just saved?"

Without waiting for an answer, he grabs Luxu by the wrist and takes him in front of Mr. and Mrs. Greystoke.

"May I introduce to you: John and Alice Greystoke, the famous explorers!"

John steps forward and extends his hand for a handshake.

"Just call me John. I can't have my saviour be formal with me!"

Luxu grabs his hand and replies.

"My name is Luxu, it's a pleasure."

James can't hold still anymore and start praising Luxu.

"You should have seen him! When I had already thought we were finished, he jumped on top of a horse and managed to calm them down! It almost felt like I saw a miracle with my own eyes!"

Alice comes forward as well. With one hand she holds her stomach and extendes the other with a smile on her face.

"And my name is Alice, it seems some thanks are in order."

"Don't mention it. I just got lucky."

John answers instead of Alice.

"That might be, but not many would have tried to help at all in this situation. So, I insist, that you eat lunch with us! James, we _do_ have enough for four people, right?"

"Ah, of course. There's no problem!"

James looks at Alice's stomach and gives her a wink.

"But I'll make enough for five."

Alice smiles while putting a hand on her stomach.

"Please do."

With that James makes his way to the back of the carriage. John observes and after James is gone, he goes back to Alice.

"Hey, maybe I should ask James to teach me how to cook, while we're still travelling together. How about it?"

Alice answers while he wraps his arms around her.

"Oh, honey. It's cute when you worry, but there's no need for that. I like you the most, when you are brooding over work. And isn't it _me_ who should worry, that you fall so in love with his cooking, that you can't eat mine anymore?"

"Darling, there's no way I wouldn't eat something you made!"

He looks down on Alice's stomach.

"Except, of course, if this little guy here is hungry."

Not wanting to bother the couple, while they are in their own world, Luxu follows after James and asks.

"Can I help you with something?"

James is startled for a moment, as he hasn't noticed Luxu coming, but quickly gives him an understanding look.

"Ah, yes. It's difficult to talk to them, when they're like that. And yes, can you set up the chairs over there? James insisted, we'd take some with us, while Alice is still pregnant. We can't have her standing all the time…"

"Alright, will do!"

Luxu, immediately gets to work and when James sees, the speed at which he sets up the chairs he starts working faster as well.

"Well, I'll be damned! If you're so fast, I'll have a hard time keeping up, haha!"

Before long, the chairs are set up, and lunch, in form of delicious looking sandwiches, is ready.

John and Alice come over and sit down. John starts talking as he sits down.

"Thank you, James, as always. And it seems you had competent assistance. I wasn't even able to offer my own help."

John winks at Luxu.

"So thank you once again."

James answers while distributing the sandwiches.

"Oh, it's nothing. As for my part: See it as trying to make up for the ruckus I caused earlier. I think I heard you swearing over some documents, that flew around the cart, when the horses started to go wild."

"And I'm glad to help."

John takes his lunch as Luxu replies as well. Everyone takes a bite, before John continues.

"Come to think of it. What _did _happen with the horses?"

James shrugs.

"Beats me. I didn't see a thing, when they suddenly neighed. They got pretty riled up, and then they started galloping as if their lives depended on it."

Luxu has a bad premonition and chimes in.

"None of you felt anything, you say?"

Alice answers him.

"Well, at the same time, the little guy became restless… But he calmed down, when we started to move quicker."

Luxu sees his fears confirmed.

_*So it's true. These are the first signs of a Storm, aren't they? But didn't the enchantress say, that he came from a distant place? Why is the Storm here now? I mean, it doesn't change much. I'll have to do as I always do, right? Let's just hope there is enough time before the real thing starts.* _

"While that is indeed strange, luckily we were saved by little Luxu here. All's well that ends well, wouldn't you say?"

Luxu is torn out of his thought by John.

"Ah, yes. I'm glad I managed to react in time."

"Well, we were lucky you were close by. Speaking of which, what are you doing, travelling around here? Are you going anywhere specific?"

Luxu tries to think of an answer, that doesn't sound like a lie.

"Ah… I'm not going anywhere specific, actually. I'm just travelling around the country for now."

John starts grinning broadly.

"You just travel around? You're also an explorer at heart, I see!"

James continues instead of John.

"You see, Mr. Greystoke here is a famous explorer! He has been to the deepest parts Africa several times already!"

"And my next expedition will be my biggest one yet!"

John stands up proudly as he says this, but then reprimands James.

"But didn't I tell you to just call me John, when we're not on official business?"

James snickers.

"Well, sorry! I thought it was!"

John scratches his head as he answers.

"We are? I don't know what you-Ah. I didn't even realize… Well, looks like you got me there, James!"

John laughs as he directs his gaze at Luxu. James warns Luxu.

"I'd be careful if I were you! I you're not you might end up working for this guy for the rest of your life!"

John makes an offended face.

"Well, if there are competent people, of course I'd want them to work for me! I mean, you've been here for two months at most, and you act like you've been a secretary your whole life! I'm not sorry for asking!"

"Haha, don't worry, I see it as a compliment! If I didn't have family back home, I would have said yes for sure."

While the two are distracted, Alice asks Luxu.

"As you just heard, we are going on an expedition sometime after I give birth. We are still looking for people to join us. We'll make sure to give you favourable working conditions, so how about it? It's a long journey, but that's all the more reason for a traveller to join us, right? But you don't have to answer right away. We'd love it if you came with us to London for now. You can still decide there."

Luxu thinks about it for a moment, and when he answers, the other two listen as well.

"Yes, I'd love to travel with you. I can't say anything about an expedition yet, but if you can give me a ride to London, that'd be great."

John stands up again.

"Then, let's not waste any more time! We pack up and start moving again. Alice could give birth anytime and I really want to see her with a doctor, when the time comes."

And, as John commands, they get ready to move again, and Luxu finds himself sitting inside a cramped room with John and Alice, as they explain their journey to him. Luxu manages to act like a country bumkin who knows nothing of the world. Apparently while John is an explorer, Alice is a biologist and together they have made it their goal to explore as much of Africa's wildlife as they can. And also, James is a cook they recruited in a place called New Orleans.

"Ugh, I feel like it's starting soon."

Alice holds her stomach, while groaning. John has already noticed Alice's complexion for a while and becomes nervous.

"Really!? Hey! James, how long until the doctor!? I think it's time for a full sprint again!"

They have just reached London and there is more traffic now.

"Don't! I want to get there in one piece! I can still handle this."

Despite Alice's words, the carriage becomes a little faster. It doesn't seem too fast for Luxu, but Alice rolls her eyes.

"Ugh. Men."

They eventually reach the doctor unscathed, and Alice is immediately transported inside the house, with her sweating and panicking husband following right behind her. In the meantime, Luxu help James with the carriage and horses.

"We sent word to the Inn right across the doctors place before we came here, so they should still have a place open. You can stay with me for the night. I'm don't think James will leave Alice's side anytime soon."

Luxu is a bit surprised.

"We're not going to Alice?"

"Well, I think it's better if we wait for tomorrow. They are going to be pretty exhausted for now."

Luxu is somewhat bummed out about it but understands where James was coming from.

"Alright."

* * *

Luxu and James are sitting inside a bar, both with a drink in their hands. There aren't many people present, besides them. But a few of those who are, are giving them weird looks. As if to deflect the looks they get, James talks a bit louder than usual.

"So, Luxu. What do you think about Mr. Greystroke's offer? I can assure you, that you won't get a much better one around here."

Upon hearing the name 'Greystroke' the people around them whisper for a bit but eventually continue to mind their own business again. Luxu is relieved, that it seems like they can continue talking without being disturbed.

"Well, I'm still not quite sure actually. I hope I can give an answer after sleeping over it a little."

In the back of his mind, Luxu has had a bad feeling for a while now. But he decides to push it away for now, until he is alone.

"You still got time, don't worry. After all we'll stay in London for a while longer, so Alice can recover, and our ship and crew aren't ready yet anyways."

"Good to hear, that I have a little longer to decide. Now, come to think of it. I heard from John and Alice, that they recruited you as well, but how did that happen anyways?"

James smiles upon hearing Luxu's question.

"Oh, so you want to know about that? If it helps you make your own decision, I'll gladly tell it!"

After taking a gulp of his drink, he continued.

"You see, back in my hometown I had a bit of a problem. No matter where I looked or what I did, people weren't keen on hiring a black cook. In the end no restaurant liked it, when customers started saying their meal tasted funny. Funny thing is that such rumours always only started _after_ someone started noticing that I was the one cooking…"

James sights before continuing.

"Where was I? Ah, right – I couldn't find a job, but luckily enough my wife got us by, by working as a Tailor."

"You have a wife!?"

Luxu sounds more shocked than he intended to, but he hasn't even considered the possibility so far. After all James is miles away from home as far as he knows.

"Yes, I do! Here, I have a picture of her! Isn't Eudora the most beautiful woman on earth!?"

Luxu looks at a black and white photograph of a dark-skinned woman. James himself is also inside the photo, wrapping his arm around her waist. Then he points at a child that stands in front of them. Both James' and Eudora's hands are resting on her shoulders.

"But my little angel is going to beat her to the first place soon enough."

James' eyes are already lost inside the photograph, and he falls silent while looking at it with a smile.

"…You miss them, don't you?"

James looks up, a little teary-eyed, when he answers

"Ah, yes. But this is for the best…"

He takes a deep breath.

"You see, when the money-problems got worse, John came to me, while I was cooking for the neighbourhood. He was pretty shocked to hear that I had no job, so he made me a once-in-a-lifetime-offer.

All our problems would be solved if I joined him on his next expedition! Can you believe it? For a simple cook like me, he went through all those lengths! Well, his wife was already pregnant by then, so he probably just couldn't ignore me and my family. He had even offered to let me take along my wife and child, but we had to decline…

I might act like an explorer right now, but my home is still New Orleans. With the money I get out of this I plan on opening a restaurant there."

James smiles at Luxu.

"But this expedition isn't just a detour. I'm trying to learn new dishes to surprise my family with, whenever I can! And while we're on a boat, _you_ could learn about sailing and navigating, if you want. I'm sure John wouldn't have anything against that. People need to learn while they're still young after all!"

"You're right, knowing how to sail could be useful at some point. I'll have to consider that as well."

They sit at the bar for a while longer, but soon enough they decide to leave for their rooms.

As Luxu lies down on the bed he finally gives in to the thought scratching the back of his head the whole day and lets it come to the surface. Just as he has guessed, it is a prophecy:

_Two paths, you stand before._

_One decision you can't ignore._

_Will you travel to far off lands?_

_Or will you refuse the helping hands?_

_Your choice is going to lead you to a painful farewell._

_Unfortunately, this is no place for you to dwell._

_With misfortune for everyone who stays,_

_each must go their own dangerous ways._

Luxu is shocked, as the prophecy is even worse than he has feared.

_*A painful farewell? You want me to just leave them? Wouldn't they be able to activate the Device? It glows fairly enough when James talked about his family, so it should be alright! There's still time! After all I haven't felt another Storm since the horses went wild. Also, James was right. I should try to learn whatever I can. Didn't the enchantress say anyways, that I can ignore the prophecies if I want? And what 'danger' is the prophecy talking about?* _

Luxu lies in bed for a long while, going back and forth between the choices he has.

By the time James knocks on his door, he feels like he has got no sleep at all. After taking a while to get up, James and Luxu make their way towards the hospital.

* * *

"Good morning, may we interrupt?"

James knocks on the door and enters. He is instantly greeted with a hug by John.

"Ahh, good morning James! It really is a good morning; I have to say. And good morning to you as well Luxu!"

Luxu receives his own hug and can see the Device lighting up inside his coat, but he ignores it. Both John and Alice are too exhausted, and Luxu doesn't want to repeat the mistake he has made with Sally before.

"Morning, and I hope you're well Alice!"

Alice gets up in the bed and looks as if she is holding something in her arms.

"Ah yes, I'm fine. Just a little tired. Good morning, James, Luxu."

James gives her a nod, while John runs back to the bed.

"Alice, let me do that for you! You lay down for a while longer!"

He receives the bundle of cloth carefully from Alice's arms and slowly walks back towards James and Luxu. He proudly presents it to them as he spoke.

"Friends, may I present to you Thosfan Tazer Greystoke!"

While Luxu looks at the baby, who slowly begins to wake up, James starts to snicker.

"You really did it now, didn't you? Isn't 'Taser' from a book? You better not start complaining, when the kids his age start to mock him!"

"Well, so what if it's from a book!? My boy is going to be special and so his name will be as well!"

"Yeah, yeah. No need to get worked up over a small joke! Just let me see him as well!"

In the meantime, Luxu is lost in thought again. He understands that the prophecy tries to warn him from something, but at the same time he just can't just let them go. The Device works in such a way, that the surroundings will be protected, once it's activated. In some cases, it will also reach out to faraway places, if they have a special place in the activators heart. But Luxu can't be sure, that it will reach the expedition team if he leaves them now. And seeing John and Alice's child, he finally makes his decision.

"John, Alice, James. I also have an announcement to make."

Luxu looks the three of them in the eyes.

"I would like to go with you on your expedition."

* * *

_Author's Gibberish:_

_God damn, did the chapter before this one end as a train-wreck. I totally forgot how I wanted to continue and now I had to… rearrange some stuff. But hey, I think I think the revised version will better than the original. Not that you could tell anyways. I also spent some time to fix the rest of the timeline as well. Now that I have that out of the way, I can start concentrating on each chapter by itself again without having to worry about how to continue it. _

_Also, from now on I will write Darkness and Device with a capital D, so it gets distinguished better. _

_And yes, my ramblings from before about the prophecies having powers themselves have just become part of the plot… in the future I'll try not to spoil my own story. Sorry about that._

_But I still want to say one thing: The baby's name isn't just random. One thing is, that 'Tazer' comes from an actual book called 'Tom Swift' by Victor Appleton. But there is another secret to his name._


	6. Chapter 5 - Of Fathers and Sons

_Everyone! I have an announcement to make! _

_As if. I'm just telling people that I edited the past chapters a bit and corrected some grammar mistakes. Hmm, what else? That review helped a lot, so thank you for that. And also thank you for reading. Hope it's not as CatAssTrophyc as I fear it is… Heh… I'll show myself out._

* * *

**Of Fathers and Sons**

"And you're sure he's not sick? It smells worse than that poison stew, I had a while ago."

Luxu is making a sceptical face.

"_Fortunately_, he is as healthy as he could be. No worries there."

John doesn't seem all that happy, contrary to his words.

"But are you _sure_? We could ask a doctor to check."

"Yes, I'm _sure_ of course! What kind of father wouldn't know their sons' condition!"

John is not amused about Luxu's doubts.

"Well. Looks like everything is in order. Time for me to go-"

Luxu tries to walk away, but John grabs his hood before he can.

"Well, _just_ you wait! I promised Alice I would do this for today and I sure as hell won't do it alone!"

"Then ask James, I bet he can help you better!"

"I would if I could, but that rat knew what was up! He got away before I could get a hold of him! You bet I'm gonna work that stay-at-home dad to his bones, when he comes back! He's gonna wish he's never even met me!"

John takes a deep breath.

"So, you see. We're the only ones we can depend on… Here's what we're gonna do: I hold him while you change _it_."

"Nonono. If anything, _I_ hold him. It's _your_ kid!"

Luxu doesn't want to run away over something like this, but as his glance says, he is going to stay adamant about that one condition. John – a weathered expert of bartering – sights, as he could see there is no way past this.

"Alrigt. _You_ hold him. Then let's do this fast before the smell gets any worse."

They both turn their sights towards the child lying on a table in with a cloth beneath it. They both look like they are about to face the most difficult challenge of their lives, while they go towards the giggling baby.

* * *

Behind the hospital, on a bench, Luxu and John are sitting. Luxu is leaning far back, staring at the sky blankly. Besides him is John with Tazer wrapped in a cloth in his arms. He is bracing his elbows on his knees and has left his head hanging, so Tazer starts to play with his hair. John starts to talk, hoping for good news.

"They say it gets better after the first time, don't they?"

"I'm pretty sure it couldn't get much worse. So, yeah…"

John sights.

"If we time it right, we'll just have to do it once more, before I can give him to Alice… Hey, we're clear right? No one will _ever_ know what happened."

Luxu continues to look at the sky, as he answers.

"Everything is clean, so no one will find out. And don't worry, I'll stand by you as many times as it needs to pee…"

_*…Dammit, me. Just be quiet for once. I really don't want another tornado. Not with this context.*_

Remembering the last time, he has made a bad joke, Luxu already curses himself for his inability to learn. To distract himself, he changes the topic.

"We have four more days until the ship departs, right?"

"Hmm? Yeah. You have free time until the day after tomorrow. But then I'm having you work on getting the ship ready."

"Good. I still have some things to take care of. Is it okay if we meet up the day after tomorrow evening?"

"Yeah, that's fine. What're you up to?"

"Ah, just walking around London. Investigating the city, a bit."

"Of course! I get it! You need to get around while you're still young! I won't stop your 'investigation', haha!"

John gives Luxu a hearty laugh, while colour returns to his eyes. But soon enough it will vanish again due to the baby in his arms.

* * *

The skies above London are somewhat clear on this day. There are not many days like that in London so one should try to make the most of it. At least that's what Luxu has been told by John.

No smoke is coming from any of the chimneys on the roofs of the houses. People seem to be rather quiet on this day. Only the laughs of a few children can be heard in the distance. Luxu is lying on top of a roof on one of the higher houses of the city, unnoticed by the people below. He simply stares into the sky, deep in thought.

"On a day like this, it kind of resembles daybreak town, huh?"

Seeing the roofs of London, Luxu is taken back, to his old home. So he won't be blinded by the sun, he puts out his hand in front of it, now looking like he tries to grab it.

"It already feels like ages, since I went away from there. Well… according to the enchantress it _has_ been ages since I've been there. I wonder what happened after I left."

The hand Luxu has put out starts to shine. The light expands starting to form a structure on his hand, until a ornamented, grey Keyblade appears in his hand.

"It would be great if you could have told me master. But I guess you couldn't."

Luxu is looking at the tip of the Keyblade, where a big eye is placed, and talks as if it's directly connecting him to his master. But no answer is returned from it, not even a flinch.

"I guess I already know everything I need to know. After all I I've seen it with my own eyes. The fate of the Keyblade wielders… The moment the Storm started their fate was sealed."

His face becomes more and more grim as he remembers the day his home was destroyed.

"Do you know what was the worst part of it all? They all stood there with their Keyblades, ready to face an unknown threat. Ready to protect their home, their allies, their cause. But it was all futile. They were powerless against the Cursed Mists. None of their attacks could ever reach it. Instead, their Keyblades, that they put so much faith in, became like a beacon for the Mists. They fell like flies. Squashed by the mists without being given a second thought. _We_ are like flies to it.

And I know you told me, that I mustn't think about it. That it will gain power over me, if I do. But how am I supposed to _not_ think about it? I knew some of them… of some I even saw the exact moment when they realised that it was hopeless. Some tried to run. Some tried to put up a fight and shield their hearts with light. But that made them even more of a target. They were like sitting ducks."

Luxu takes a deep breath and sits up straight, pointing his Keyblade at the sun.

"And so am I if I use this… I can't undo what happened, but I can learn from their mistakes. At least like that their sacrifice will not have been in vain… Not that comforting words help them at this point anyways."

Luxu dematerialises the Keyblade and stands up. He scans the horizon looking for something.

"Now, where were we? That's right, I need to buy myself as much time as I can. Not that I can keep a Storm from ever happening. That would be like 'trying to keep a volcano from erupting', right Master? But like prophets, Darknesses come forth and speed up the process so like that…"

Luxu stops his wandering gaze as he has finally found what he has been looking for.

"…if you get rid of the Darknesses, the prophesised Storm will be postponed"

He jumps across the roofs towards a foggy area.

* * *

Luxu is standing in a deserted garden with a drop of sweat running down from his head. With the trees around him and the sun already going down, it has become difficult to see his surroundings. The clouds that are hanging on the sky don't make it better either, but Luxu has been told that it rains in London more often than not, so he considers himself lucky.

For what he has planned, there is no need for Luxu to _see_ with his eyes anyways. It is even better if people don't notice him anyways.

"Then let's get to it, shall we?"

Luxu takes out the Device from his coat, and with his help it starts to shine. But contrary to the device, the space around him darkens, to a point where only silhouettes of the houses and trees can be made out.

Other silhouettes take their place. They are pitch black and menacing is their aura. Their sharp claws already start to reach for Luxu. With hunger for the device's light they finally leap forward, but Luxu jumps backwards and the creatures miss him by a hairbreadth.

But before they can continue to chase the Device. The ground beneath them starts to light up and they are struck by a powerful thunderbolt. There may not be a storm, but Luxu still wants to be careful.

"That surprised you, didn't it? There is more where that came from."

Not all of the creatures have been defeated, and the ones that remain, chase down Luxu relentlessly. Luxu shoots the first ones down with magic, but when they get too close, he switches to close combat. He uses the light in his own heart, purified by the device and enchants his hands and feet. Some runes, that he has drawn on them before, begin to glow.

"Now let's see if this works as well. This counts as _protecting_ myself after all, right?"

He throws out a few punches and kicks and they are more effective than Luxu has expected. Like this he manages to push the Darknesses back for a bit, but before long the runes have formed cracks and Luxu has to switch back to magic, so the enchantment won't break completely.

"Tch, looks like the runes won't hold out for long."

Luxu slowly leads the Darknesses to the next trap he has prepared. Like this the fight continues for a long time before Luxu can feel the smoke letting up. By then, he is pretty exhausted, while he defeats the last stragglers.

Luxu is about to finish up, when he sees a dog being chased by more Darknesses. He follows after the dog, trying to get to him before the Darknesses. As he does, he notices the device lighting up, so he decides to use up the runes.

With a big leap forward the runes on his legs break, but thanks to that he manages to catch up to the Darknesses. Then, he defeats them by sacrificing the runes on his arms.

With the Darknesses being defeated, a dalmatian comes out of his hiding spot and plods towards an exhausted Luxu. Luxu kneels down and looks at the dog's collar.

"Now, who have we got here? …Pongo? You lighted up the device… What are you doing here, I wonder?"

After getting his collar checked and seeing that Luxu is ok, Pongo suddenly starts to run in the same direction he was running in before. But after a few steps he stops again, looks back at Luxu and barks. Even with the Darknesses gone, the dog seems to be distraught over something.

Without wasting too much time, Luxu gets up and follows Pongo, because it seems as if he is asking for help. They get deeper inside London and find an old house with two men walking towards it. In front of the door a Lady with black and white hair seems to be waiting for them.

"What took you so long!? Come on! Get inside, I don't have all day! And I hope for both of you baffoons, that you got all of them!"

The woman seems to be in a hurry, so the two men start to walk faster as well. One of them is extremely tall with long legs. The other has a short and plump stature. He carries a large bag, that seems to be rather heavy and Luxu thinks, that he can see some movement inside the bag. The man struggles to keep up with his much larger companion, who now starts talking.

"Miss Cruella De Vil! Of course, we wouldn't dare ta let a single one of these puppies escape! We'll be right there!"

He turns his head to his partner in crime.

"Horace, ya heard the Lady! Get to-"

But when he turns around, he sees Luxu and Pongo closing in on them. A grin forms on his lips.

"What's this, looks like we're going ta get a bonus, Horace! And tha dog brought a kid, that wants to play hero as well! Ya go on, Horace, I'll deal with our special guests."

It takes a moment for Horace to understand, but when he looks behind him, he laughs as well.

"Hehe, good call, Jasper. And make sure the kid doesn't spill the beans."

Horace speeds up, while Jasper stays behind. When Luxu and Pongo reach Jasper, Horace is already going inside with Cruella. Pongo barks and tried to run past Jasper, but he doesn't let him.

"Don't worry you'll get inside soon enough, but only after I've stuffed you in a bag!"

But while he is saying that, Luxu has already caught up to Pongo, who has been running ahead and suddenly accelerates explosively with a single jump.

"Out. Of. The. WAY!"

Before Jasper can react, Luxu lands a flying kick in his face and knocks him out. There is even a cracking sound, signalling that the man's nose has just broken, but Luxu has no time to pull his punches. The closer he gets to the house the more he realises how bad the situation already is.

It can't be seen by anyone but him yet, but there is a very dark aura already surrounding the whole house. The aura seeps out of every nook and cranny, and Luxu is reminded of another time, he has seen this phenomenon before: Before long, this whole house would be lost in darkness, just like that first village he has watched from afar on his travels. If he wants to change something about that, he has to be quick about it.

Thus, Luxu sprints towards the entrance, with Pongo following right behind him. When they get inside, Luxu is greeted by a thick Cursed Mist and barely manages to see Horace and Cruella exchanging the bag and some money. With his vision – and other senses – being obstructed like that he has no choice, but to follow behind Pongo.

But that gives him another idea. He takes out the device and runs towards Horace, in order to push him out of Pongo's way. Pongo himself runs towards Cruella, to get the bag from her, while she is trying to get away into the next room.

One of the puppies is looking outside the bag and Pongo tries to grab him with his mouth, but he only gets him by the dog collar. Cruella screams and starts to pull as well.

"Argh! Get away from them! You stupid mutt!"

The collar rips and Pongo and Cruella both fall backwards in opposite directions. When all the puppies are thrown out of the bag inside the room, Pongo immediately jumped up again, intending to get to them. That's when the device activates. Luxu has already knocked out Horace in the meantime and holds the device in Pongo's direction.

However different from the other times, there is already a Storm just about start inside the house and the Room Cruella is in, has already started to "fall". And the process quickly accelerates, now that Cruella has given in to her fear. Her complexion becomes paler and paler and the Cursed Mists starts to swallow the entire room.

She lets out a silent cry of terror, and her gaze darts left and right as if she was surrounded by bloodthirsty monsters. Actually, Luxu is sure, that she will be soon. After all there is no light protecting her from the mists and they can flow _inside_ her unimpededly. The puppies in the room have a more merciful fate, as they have been enveloped by Pongo's spell. They will simply begin their long slumber.

But now, even Pongo can see the mists, which spurs him more than ever to jump inside and save his children. This time though, Luxu steps in.

"Hey, you can't just jump in there!"

Luxu holds the frantic dog, who becomes weaker and weaker in his arms. Albeit being confused about the situation, the dog finally starts to calm down, as the Storm subsides. Luckily, they have managed to contain it inside the house, before the rest of the city will be affected.

Pongo howls desperately, as he sees his puppies vanish in the darkness. It has been only thanks to the Device, that he has understood there is nothing he can do for them anymore. Or rather, he has already done everything he can, and he can only hope that they will end up somewhere safe.

"If you wish for it hard enough, I'm sure they will be kept safely. After all the device works exactly the way the user wants it to."

The dog looks at him, and it seems as if it understands what Luxu is saying. Or rather it understands what Luxu is trying to tell him. Pongo turns his head back to the room and the device lights up once more, in response to the dogs wish. The wish being, that all the puppies inside the room will be stored away safely so that someone with a kind heart will find them.

Then the last of the Cursed Mists dissipate and it is as if the Storm never existed at all. Hesitantly Pongo plods inside the room, slowly turning his head while looking for any sign of his children until his eyes meet with those of Luxu again. He lets out a heart-breaking howl and lies down, finally becoming too weak to stand anymore.

Luxu steps inside the room and walks towards Pongo, who is still awake but resting on the floor. Aside from him, the room is empty, no Cruella, no Puppies, not even Dust flies around the room. It is as if everything inside has just vanished.

Luxu picked up Pongo and goes back. When he tries to go past the unconscious Horace, Pongo jumps or rather falls out of his arms and prods towards the Collar that he has ripped off one of the puppy's throats.

Seeing him like this, Luxu considers whether he should erase the dog's memories of this incident.

*…No. That wouldn't be mercy, but cruelty instead. At least like this he knows they will be safe and that there is hope, for them to be reunited again. Otherwise the never-ending worry would be the end of him… Taking his memory of his children altogether would be even worse. After all it is the last thing he has of them now.*

Pongo gently picks up the collar with his mouth and returns in front of Luxu. He sits down and silently looks at him.

"…You want me to have it? Alright. I'll hold on to it as a reminder…"

After a small pause where he ponders over something, Luxu crouches down.

"Because I promise you: If I ever see a hair of them, I'll make sure they come back to you. So you just wait here and after all of this is over, you'll be reunited with your loved ones, I'm sure!"

The first part of what he says, is meant to calm Pongo down and give him peace of mind. But as Luxu says the second part, he isn't sure if it is a promise made to Pongo or himself.

In the end, Luxu accepts the collar and picks Pongo back up. Then he continues to walk outside the house. He continues to walk past Jasper to the place he met Pongo, looking for anyone who might know him.

While walking back, Luxu is pleased to notice, that at least the spell has worked as it should have. Around him everything has a faint glow to it.

"Pongo!? Is that you!? Where have you been!?"

Luxu is suddenly stopped by a young couple with a female dog. All three of them look incredibly worried, seeing Pongo in such a state. To calm them down, Luxu puts him on the street, so he can show them he was ok.

Although not enthusiastic about the whole matter, Pongo gets up and walks towards them.

"We were so worried about you!"

The young man runs towards Pongo and hugs him tightly, closely followed by the woman and the female dog. Soon the man lets up from Pongo and makes space for the female dog, who starts sniffing him and Pongo returns the greeting. Luxu doesn't think an honest explanation would be of any use so he answers before they asked him the wrong questions.

"I found him exhausted in an alley and thought I'd ask around for anyone who might know him."

The man directs his attention towards Luxu.

"Thank you so much for that. I was looking for him all day and I thought I'd lost him already!"

"Don't mention it, I'm just glad he'll be fine now. I'm in a hurry so I'll have to go now."

"What? But we weren't even able to thank you properly! At least tell us your name!"

"It's Luxu, but I won't be in London for long. I'm going on a long trip… Don't worry, I have everything I need. However, if you could do me one favour, it would be to take extra care for the dog for me. He looks really exhausted."

With that, Luxu intends to walk away, but before he can do so, Pongo comes forward once again. Luxu crouches down to pet him.

"Good luck out there, buddy. I wish, that things will _get better_ for you, so you be a good boy, alright?"

Luxu stands up and looked at the couple and the dog in front of him.

"Good luck to you as well"

The man is a bit surprised that Pongo gets such a long farewell, but quickly regained his composure.

"Ah, goodnight. If you ever need anything just ask for Roger and Anita Radcliffe. We'll do anything we can!"

"Will do, goodnight."

With those words Luxu leaves the four to their own devices and vanishes in the night.

* * *

_Author's Gibberish:_

_I would have loved to call the chapter "Father and Son", as a Cat Stevens reference. Unfortunately, it wouldn't have made enough sense as a title then. Still, the song kind of captures the feeling I wanted to create at the end of the chapter: Pongo knows he has to wait for the time he is going to be reunited with his children. But for that he has to go away – to fall asleep and wait for the worlds to wake up again. So he can eventually be reunited with his children in Kingdom Hearts I. I hope all of you were kind enough to them for him. :)_

_When I finished the last chapter, I still had no idea that Luxu would have this kind of adventure in London. I just felt like he needed to have one before departure. I was pretty excited to see, that there was such a perfect fit. Sure, it might be a bit too early to fit in timewise, but I just couldn't let myself miss this opportunity. Sue me._

_I think I reached a new personal height of comedy in the first half. "I'll stand by you as many times as it needs to pee" easily makes the top list of bad English-puns I came up with. Though, I'm not sure if I was the first one to make the joke._

_So, there was a reason why Luxu didn't use the Keyblade after all. One could call it an emotional scar if they want. He had seen the war after all, so who can blame him, right? Well, if this was a game there would be some ways to integrate it into the game. Maybe Luxu doesn't really gain experience when fighting with the Keyblade, or the Darknesses are going into a frenzy, when he equips it. But would that be because they simply mirror Luxu's trauma and become what he sees in his memories? Or is it because they have had a taste of Keyblade-Wielders and can't get enough? Who really knows what these instruments of destruction are after? If they are after something at all._


	7. Chapter 6 - Finishing the Loop

**Finishing the Loop**

John is walking up and down with his arms locked behind his back. In front of him two people are standing up straight, obviously unsure about what is going to happen to them. The three of them are standing in the London harbour, on a pier.

"Now, you all know why you are here, right?"

One of the two men steps forward.

"Actually, I'm-"

James tries to speak but is immediately interrupted by John.

"You are here because I will teach you everything you need to know about ships, navigating and being part of a crew! Before you know it, your hands will help steer this ship in front of you without even having to think about it. After all I will be working you so hard, you won't be able to think anymore anyways!"

James takes another step forward and raises his hand. Luxu, who is standing beside him, can see sweat running down from his forehead.

"John, I know that you are intending to train Luxu, but why am I here? I already worked through this tor- uh, training! There's no need for me to be here a second time?"

"Well, I thought as well, that you have nothing more to learn, but then you had to go and prove me wrong, didn't you? One of the things I just listed, that I am going to teach you, is how to be part of a _crew_! But apparently you still have a lot to learn about that! I know that you have no fault in that: It couldn't be helped, after all I taught you alone! But I will now take responsibility and right the wrongs that happened! You two shall now work together as a crew and complete the tasks that I give you!"

James makes a bewildered face and starts to gesticulate, as he is seemingly getting more desperate.

"Wait, what? I don't remember doing something wrong on deck! What do you mean by proving you wrong!?"

"A crew isn't just about what is going on deck! The bond of a crew is forged in the wild waters of the seas and goes much deeper than that! But then you had to abandon us, when Luxu and I would have needed you most!"

"I told you I was busy and already apologised! And besides, it's just taking care of a baby! How bad could it be!?"

John flinches at James' retort but doesn't back down.

"It doesn't matter how bad it was! Fact is: you left and proved, that you still don't have what it takes to be a sailor. Now, be glad for this second chance to learn about what you're still missing."

"But…! Haah…"

James tries to think of another retort but give up and steps back in line.

"I see, that you have calmed down now. Very good! Now, let's get to teaching."

John shifts his gaze away from James and directs it towards Luxu.

"Luxu. As I understand, you have no experience with the sea, is that right?"

Luxu nods and a small grin appears on John's face. Meanwhile James' eyes are glued on that grin, while looking like he recalls some unpleasant memories.

"Speak up, boy! What kind of sailor doesn't know how to get people's attention!"

Luxu is already beginning to understand why James is looking so doubtfully at John. After all he himself has been at the mercy of his own master before and has had to deal with his whims.

"Yes, I have no experience whatsoever."

Johns grind becomes wider.

"This won't do either. While we are training or on ship, you are both to refer to me with either 'sir' or 'captain'! Are we clear!?"

""Yes, sir!""

"Good, then let's start! First of all, what you see in front of you isn't just any old ship, lo and behold the treasure of my family: The Hispaniola! I personally supervised her crafting, so I know all there is to know about her. If one of you dares to give her a rough treatment, I will know, and it won't end well for you!

But anyways, sailor's rule number one: The sea can swallow you and you ship whole, if you're not careful. And even if you are, there's sometimes no way around going through a rough time. So the first thing you need is of course the needed stamina to be able to fight against the whims of the sea! This is an area, that even James is still lacking in!"

John walks a few steps towards the harbour-buildings.

"Your first task is going to be to take all our cargo from that warehouse over there and transport it to the ship. Luxu, you'll be in charge of getting our stuff from the warehouse. There's a worker inside who can help you with finding it. Just tell him that I sent you and he should be able to help you out."

John walks back to the two of them and stops in front of James.

"As for you, you'll be in charge of sorting everything into the ship. You should already know where it all goes from our last trip, right?"

James takes a deep breath as if to brace himself for what is to come and does a salute.

"Ayay, Captain!"

"Hehe, alright! I have no doubts that I can count on you! Also work together on the larger crates. Can't have the both of you get on my ship with broken backs after all. If you need anything, I'll be sorting out documents in the captain's cabin. Any questions?"

"No, sir!"

"No, sir!"

"Perfect, then I'll leave you to it."

John is about to turn around, when he remembers something. He grins widely as he adds one last thing.

"And before I forget it, a last warning: If I ever catch you slacking off, you're going to regret it."

John walks away, being in an obvious good mood. James and Luxu stand still, for a moment. James is the first to speak.

"You heard him, we better get moving, before he immediately decides we are already slacking off."

"Sounds like you have some experience with that."

Luxu gives him a smirk, but James just stares ahead and sighs.

"Let's just say, that I know every nook and cranny of this ship, much to my regret."

James glances at Luxu to the side, as if to take measure of him.

"Not that I have much doubt, after all you managed to somehow outrun even a horse, but you are up for the task, right? There's going to be a lot of heavy lifting the next few weeks."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I might not look it but I'm pretty strong."

Now it's James' time to smirk.

"Big words for such a small boy. Well, I'll just take your word for it. So, where it this guy we are supposed to meet? The earlier we are done, the earlier we can eat… And then I can try out a new recipe I came up with."

"That's it? You wanna finish this fast, so you can cook?"

"Of course! I have to practice so I don't forget it! Actually, do you want to help me after we're done? I could need some helping hands."

"Yes, of course!"

"Alright!"

The two of them are just about to enter the warehouse, John has sent them to, through a small dor. But before they can, a middle-aged person opens it from inside. He stops for a moment, when he sees the two of them.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, Mister Greystroke sent us to get his wares from him."

"Oh, yes. He said he would send someone today, so it was you!"

The old man tries to remember for a moment and finally recognizes James.

"I remember you! You were that lad who cooked for the whole crew, when came to London! Man, I wish I could have had a taste of that stew, but it was gone by the time I heard of it."

"Well, you can come by this evening, if you want. The crew won't come until tomorrow, so there's bound to be enough for everyone! I can't guarantee the taste, but we'll try to cook something new today!"

The man turns towards Luxu.

"You mean, you and the boy? You're already having your own apprentice? Rising pretty fast through the ranks, aren't we? Well, if you're doing that, I'll make sure to give you some extra provisions! Kekeke"

Seeing that the attention has shifted to him, Luxu introduces himself.

"Hello, I'm Luxu. Mister Greystroke… recruited me for his next trip, so me and James will be working together today."

"That Greystroke _recruited_ you personally? Must be a pretty special lad, huh?"

James answered for Luxu.

"Of course, he is! He did nothing less, than save our lives, when we came back to London! He managed to stop the whole carriage, when the horses ran amok!"

"Well, well, well! What a mighty fine lad we have here! My name's Norman Porter, pleased to make your acquaintance!"

Norman puts out his hand with a smile. Luxu grips it and they shake hands.

"The pleasure is all mine!"

The man suddenly turns around and signals them to follow him inside the warehouse.

"Then follow me! Can't have you waiting for me, when you're going to cook dinner tonight!"

They walk through a few big shelves each packed with stuff and stop at one of them.

"Just as Mr. Greystroke ordered, two weeks' worth of provisions. And the tools and furniture are freshly maintained or repaired. With this you should be good to go. You want to look through it?"

James' face pales when he sees the huge pile of stuff they will have to carry.

"No, that's fine, Mr. Porter… I think it's better if we start quickly. If we notice something, we'll talk about it in the evening, is that alright?"

"Yes, that's fine. Then I'll leave you to it… And please, call me Norman. I'm not such a distinguished individual as you make it sound!"

"Alright. Thank you for helping us out, Norman!"

"I'll go and open the big door now, so you can carry the stuff outside. Have a nice day for now, I'll be in my office if you have any questions. Good luck you two!"

As Norman walks away, James turns towards Luxu.

"It seems it's finally time to start, let's carry the big stuff first. Is that ok with you?"

"Yes, that's fine. You really don't look too happy about that, huh?"

James gives Luxu a wry smile.

"Let's just get the worst part over with, and it can only get better from there. And if I catch you slacking off, I'll throw you personally overboard! Haha!"

They go towards a larger table and James starts rambling and grimacing as they slowly lift it.

"Good Lord, why did they have to break the Table during our last trip!?"

"Who's _they_?"

"Ah, the rest of the crew. A rowdy bunch, but generally good people. You're going to meet them tomorrow anyways, so you'll get to know them then."

"Alright, are you ready to go?"

"Wait! Just give me a minute! …Good – let's do this."

Luxu has considered, if he should use some magic to make it easier for both of them, but seeing James earnestly trying to do his best, he decides against it. They could probably both use the workout.

They carry the heavy stuff together until midday. Exhaustedly they eat their lunch and continue to split tasks. Just as John has commanded, Luxu carries the stuff from the warehouse towards until halfway across the pier, to hand it over to James, who will then sort it into the ship.

As a consequence, however, Luxu started to get things from the warehouse faster, than James could receive them. And by the time Luxu has finished, a small pile has formed on the pier in front of the ship. Luxu is about to start helping out James, when John, comes out from the door of his cabin.

"Luxu! I see you have finished early, so why don't I show you around the ship for a bit?"

Luxu gives James an apologetic look, but he just shakes his head.

"Go, I'll just finish up here. Meet me in the kitchen later, alright?"

"Alright, see ya!"

Luxu runs towards John and stops in front of him.

"And you even have some spunk left in you! There's not much wind right now, so how about I show you how to lower and hoist a sail? Can't hurt to start a little early!"

"Alright, so what do we do?"

"First, we have to go up to undo the safeties for the sails. Follow me!"

John walks to the main Mast and climbs up do the crow's nest with Luxu right behind him. About halfway up, Luxu sees the exhausted James coming back up from the ship and shuffling towards the pile of provisions Luxu has left for him.

"Hey, aren't you overworking James a bit?"

Luxu turns his head upwards again, to look at John's feet.

"You know, I actually intended to overwork _you_! And here you are still fine after all that lugging."

Before John continues, the two of them climb through the hole on the crow's nest.

"But you're right. There's a reason why I'm overworking him… You see, whenever James has free time he mostly spends it looking that picture of his family and that's just not sitting right with me."

John makes a worried face while he looks over the railing down on James.

"You see I got him that picture, so he wouldn't have to miss them too much, while he is away. After all I knew, that he's not the traveller type. Not like us you see!"

For a moment, John looks back up at Luxu, with a grin on his face.

"But now I feel like it had the opposite effect: He's just missing them more! And that's just no good. He's on an adventure, for god's sake!"

John turns his head towards Luxu.

"Then I just had the idea, that you get along pretty well together. So, if you could distract him from his family for me, I would be pretty thankful…"

Now Luxu looks down over the railings as well.

"I get what you mean. He really does seem absentminded from time to time… I'll do what I can."

"And that's all I'm asking for. I knew I could count on you!"

After that, John explained to Luxu how to lower and hoist the sails. Before long, it has become evening and thus time for Luxu to help out James with his cooking.

* * *

"Let me do the cutting, just tell me what I have to do."

James is standing in front of a cutting board, with his hand shaking while grasping a knife. He sighs.

"Yeah, you're right. This ain't gonna work. Alright, then I'll lead _you_ through it. But my standards for food are pretty high, so try to keep up!"

"I'll give it my all, captain!"

Luxu salutes, with a smile on his face.

"Ay! That's what I wanna hear! First you go cutting down all those vegetables. Don't leave anything bigger than bite-sized!"

"Ayay!"

Luxu gets to cutting the vegetables and while he does, he can feel the device lighting up from within his coat. It doesn't take him long to find out why. When he glances to the side, he can see James looking the ingredient as if he is hypnotised by them.

*If I just push him a little, he might even be able to activate the device… But his stamina is already weak. If I do that there's no telling what might happen to him during the voyage. If he has to go back empty-handed because of me or worse, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. I've been lucky with Sally, but James' spell would have to reach his home on the other side of the planet. There's no telling how much energy he'll need. With Pongo saving London, I'm sure I've have gotten myself some time.*

With both of them lost in their own thoughts and sometimes breaking the silence with small talk, they cook together. After a while the smell can be made out on the whole ship.

* * *

"Did I miss it!? Is still something left!?"

James has just come up to the deck with a steaming pot and smiles at Norman, who has just run onto the boat from the pier.

"No, you're right on time! I was just about to send Luxu to get you. By the way, everything is in order in the kitchen, thank you for even sharping the knives!"

"I'm glad to hear that! But don't mention it, I'm getting duly repaid after all."

Norman snickers while Luxu comes up with the last bench in his hands.

"Oh! And I'm even getting to eat with a view of the sea."

While James sets the table, Luxu places the bench in front of it. When they are about to finish, John comes out of the captain's cabin, with his face looking somewhat drained.

"Is it finally done? Smelling that while doing paperwork was torture, I tell you!"

James gave him a smile.

"Well I made sure to cook spicy, so everyone would have a share of the pain. Althoug, it wasn't exactly me that cooked. Luxu here did most of the work, really."

John and Norman both directed their gazes at Luxu, who replied.

"I hope it's to everyone's liking. However, all I did was following James' instructions"

John is the first to reply and the first to reach out his plate.

"After seeing your skill with your hands today, I have complete faith, that it will be fine! So, give me some of that, will you, James?"

After receiving his _first_ portion, John turned his head towards Norman with a wry grin.

"I take it, you scrounged yourself a seat at our table. Also, the paperwork is almost done, it would be great if you could look over it tomorrow!"

"Good, I'll take them with me after dinner! For me a big portion as well!"

Now, it's Normans turn to hold out his plate. James receives it and fills it to the brim. Upon receiving the plate, he continues to talk.

"So, how is Miss Alice holding up? I take it, she has just given birth?"

Suddenly a woman's voice could be heard from the pier.

"_Alice_, is doing just fine thank you!"

The four of them turn around to look at Alice coming onto the ship.

"And the baby is fine too, if you were going to ask."

John jumps up and runs towards Alice, while James sets aside the pot to go down into the boat again.

"I'll get you another plate, Alice"

"Thank's James. And don't worry, the little one already ate."

James turns around for a moment before he vanishes below deck.

"Alright but I would have whipped something special for him, just so you know!"

In the meantime, John has finally reached Alice who is carrying Tazer in her arms. Having covered his

"Honey are you alright!? Shouldn't you still be in the hospital?"

"I'm fine dear, I've rested enough. Now, that I can move around again, I have to get back in shape, so the Voyage doesn't get the better of me!"

Alice walks past John towards the table and sits down. John follows behind her, still having a worried look on his face.

"Are you sure? I really don't want you to overexert yourself!"

"Yes, I'm _sure_! Now, sit down."

Alice turns her face towards Luxu and then Norman.

"And good evening to you Luxu and Norman. By the way, how's your brother doing? It's been a while since we had the chance to talk."

Norman has been about to take his first bite, but he immediately puts down the cutlery as e begins talking.

"Archie? He's doing great! He's still heads over heels for his little Jane though and I can understand why. She's a little angel – a whole lotta work – but an angel. Can't believe my bookworm of a brother is now changing the diapers of a baby! But the work suits him better than expected."

Seeing Normans eyes light up while he talks about his brother, Alice begins to smile.

"That's good to hear."

"Ah, right! I _am_ supposed to tell you, that he's sorry he can't make it and he wishes you best of luck on your journey!"

"Thank you! But he really shouldn't worry about that too much. Now, more than ever he should be with his family. After all that's the same thing we are doing, right Dear?"

Alice gives John a meaningful smile. Trying to interpret her signals, he answers Norman.

"Ah, yes honey. Norman, tell your brother I said hi as well. And good luck with his daughter, too!"

Alice, looking satisfied with his answer, now directs her attention towards the baby in her arms, who is slowly waking up in her arms.

"Hey there, little man. Time to wake up and say hello to some people."

Alice gently prods Tazer's forehead with a finger and causes him to open his eyes. Seeing his mother, the baby starts to giggle and grabs her finger. John seems to be wildly amazed by that.

"Only a few days old and my son already goes for the hand of my wife! Haha! I can tell we are family!"

Before Alice can answer, James appears behind her with an extra plate in his hands.

"Not too loud now, John or you are going to scare him. Sorry it took so long, Alice. A portion for two, or is your appetite different now?"

"A normal portion is fine, James. And you make it sound like I ate half your stock, while I was pregnant!"

While Alice is starting to pout, James forms a cheeky smile on his face.

"Well, I can still remember the glares you gave me, when I made your potion juust a little too small."

"And I still remember when you made me ask for seconds three times – the whole crew thought I was a glutton!"

John started to laugh.

"Hahaha! James, that still was one of your best deeds on the whole trip! The scene was just magnificent!"

Alice gives a deadly glare to John.

"If I ever find out, you had a hand in that, _Darling_, you are going to regret it _bitterly_."

John's laughter gets caught in his throat and he averts his gaze. He is still unable to keep the smile off his face, however.

"W-why would you think that, Honey? I just couldn't help myself enjoying the scene."

Seeing the explosive situation, Norman tries to change the subject. For that he gets a thankful look from John.

"Well, can I see the baby? I think they've become my weakness as well."

"Of course! Wait a second, here. You can hold him if you like."

Alice stands up and passes the blanket, with the baby inside to Norman.

"Heh, the resemblance really is uncanny. At this rate, he might even rival little Jane, when it comes to being cute."

As Norman holds the baby, he slowly rocks it left and right. After a while James is the next to break the silence.

"If we wait any longer, the food will get cold, so let's start eating!"

Being ripped out of a trance, Norman hands the baby back to Jane and sits down again.

"Right! How could I forget the original reason, I came over! Thank you for the meal."

They all start eating, but the conversations last until even the sun has gone down.

* * *

Luxu is about to prepare the table below deck, when he is suddenly interrupted by a loud noise above.

"Gumboman! Haha! Good to see you're alive and kicking! I was worried John worked you to death by now!"

Much to Luxu's surprise, he can hear James answering the loud greeting.

"Good morning Mr. Bow! It's good to see you are well! How was the vacation?"

*Gumboman? What kind of nickname is that?*

Snickering to himself, Luxu goes up above deck. While he does, Mr. Bow continues talking.

"Everything I hoped it would be! But you know how it goes: The sea is my most beloved mistress and what is live without an adventure? Don't tell my wife that though."

"I wouldn't even consider it!"

As Luxu comes up the stairs, Luxu makes out a tall, muscular figure standing with his back towards him. Mr. Bow and James have both just turned towards the Pier, where even more people are coming in small groups, each one of them carrying a bag. James starts talking.

"And I see you even brought the rest of the crew with you already! Who would have thought that you were this punctual."

"Whatever do you mean by that!? We're the best crew of London! Nay – the world! …Well chance of getting an edible breakfast for once might help with motivation. But don't tell my wife that."

James let's out a laugh.

"To think things would end up like this… I'll have to be careful, that I'm not woken up by angry wives one day, whose husbands I have taken!"

"Nah, I wouldn't dream of putting you on the spot like that, don't worry!"

In the next moment the door to the Captain's Cabin is thrown open and John storms outside.

"Samuel and everyone, you're right on schedule! When we all work together, my dear Hispaniola will be ready in no time!"

John turns towards Luxu and signs him to come closer.

"Luxu! Come over, I'll have to introduce you to the rest of the crew!"

The gazes of altogether twelve people are directed at him, as he steps forward. Luxu looks at each person while concentrating his sight on the light they give off.

*All of the crew is wrapped in the protective spell… Mr. Bow hasn't been lying when he has said they're all from London. At least Pongo's spell seems to have reached everyone from the city. Too bad John and Alice don't live here…*

Luxu's thoughts are interrupted by John.

"Everyone, before we get caught up with catching up with each other, may I present to you: Luxu. The boy who saved me and my family! He will be joining us on our upcoming voyage."

Mr. Bow comes closer and offers to shake hands by putting out his own.

"It seems, James holds you in high regards, so I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Samuel Bow and as John's first mate, I am in charge of the crew. While on ship, I'll have you call me Mr. Bow like everyone else. Are we clear?"

Luxu shakes hands with him and is surprised the strong grip of the man in front him. Trying to ignore the that slightly feels like his hand is being crushed between two rocks, he replies.

"Yes, Mr. Bow!"

"Oh! It looks like you have already got a lesson about conduct!"

John chimes in.

"Yes, he might not look it, but he and James have already carried most of the provisions inside the ship yesterday. So, feel free to use him as you see fit!"

Mr. Bow laughs.

"You're right he really doesn't look it! That's a high bar you're setting for yourself there, Luxu. Hopefully you'll be able to live up to it."

Mr. Bow claps his hands.

"Well, the rest of the introductions can be made during the day, I believe. Let's get down to the more important business: James, how far along are you with breakfast?"

"I have good news for that. I just finished it before, and was going to ask John, if he's heard anything from you guys. We can start anytime."

"As expected from Gumboman! My stomach can always depend on you."

Luxu is curious and asks about the nickname.

"What is this 'Gumboman' all about?"

Mr. Bow makes a surprised face.

"You haven't tasted his Gumbo yet? It's probably the best thing I have ever eaten on a voyage! And as the hero, who brought this deliciousness to us, we decided to name him Gumboman!"

Mr. Bow turns around to the rest of the crew, who have all come aboard the ship by now.

"Alright, men! You heard James. Put your stuff inside your cabins and get to the kitchen. I want to finish this by evening, so we can depart at first light tomorrow!"

John turns towards the crew as well.

"Before that, while everyone is still together, I'd like to thank all of you for coming with me once again. I am glad I can depend on a crew like this one for my travels around the world! But –"

John raises a warning finger.

"– my wife and child are coming on this trip as well. So, if anyone of you thinks it would be a good idea to scare them or not treat them with proper respect, I am going to personally make sure to show you just how wrong you are!"

One of the crewmembers speaks up. Contrary to his tall and muscular appearance he has a surprisingly soft voice.

"But Mr Greystroke, isn't it you who-"

Before he can finish his question, a flustered John interrupts him.

"It doesn't matter what I said or did before, Finney! Just don't dare to get me-, ah, I mean yourselves in trouble, you hear me? Now you better start moving, before I send you to work immediately!"

Like this, the people go to their cabins and deposit their stuff in there. After breakfast, a long day of preparing for the departure starts. Luxu learns much about the ship and the crew, as Mr. Bow sends him around all over, to help out the crewmembers.

* * *

"Get up, you landlubbers! It's time to get to work or are you all too scared of the sea that you don't dare to get out of your beds!?"

The loud voice of Mr. Bow can be heard throughout all the cabins, which are slowly opened one after another.

"I want to be out of this port by breakfast, so get to it!"

Luxu gets outside the door as well and when he does, he immediately gets a task by Mr. Bow.

"Luxu, you help James with undoing the ropes to the pier. He's already gone upstairs."

Luxu quickly goes past Mr. Bow, and before getting to the stairs, he sees John already standing by at the anchor. Alice stands in a corner and Tazer in her arms points at John.

*Trying to look good in front of your wife and child is it? Or is it a morale thing?*

With a smile on his face, Luxu runs up the stairs and gets to James, who is already waiting at the pier. Looking east, Luxu can barely see the first rays of the sun on the horizon. In the meantime, Mr. Bow gives out more orders.

"Finney, take three more people and get to the sails. Wait on my signal to lower them. The rest of you are on anchor-duty! If you actually manage to damage something, I'll personally kick your asses afterwards, just so you know!"

Every crewmember smoothly occupies his position. As soon as Luxu reaches James, he immediately gets to work.

"We'll push the footbridge inside the ship, before undoing the ropes. Help me out a bit"

Together they lift the broad and heavy plank onto the boat and get to undoing the ropes. At the same time, they can hear the anchor being lifted and the sails being lowered a little bit. The sails have already been turned in the right position beforehand by Finney and another crewmember. Mr. Bow has now occupied his position at the steering wheel as well.

Luxu is now at the back of the ship and about to undo the last rope. In front James is already waiting for him. He has already undone his rope, and is simply holding it, so it stays wrapped around the pole.

"I'm ready when you are!"

Luxu swiftly unties the knot and gets in the same position as James.

"Ready!"

James nods and shouts to Mr. Bow.

"Ready, Mr. Bow!"

"Ay, then let's get this show on the road! Three… Two… One… Release!"

At Mr. Bow's call Luxu and James let go of the ropes, and the ship is catapulted a bit away from the pier, but quickly swings back. John, Alice and more crewmembers appear on deck. James quickly runs to the ladder that is mounted on the side of the ship and does a small jump to get to it.

Luxu waits for James to get up, but a sudden gust of wind gets caught in the sails and pushes the ship forward. James almost slips but manages to regain his balance. Finney leaves his position at the sails and pulls James up.

Unfortunately, it takes too long until the ladder is free, so while James is getting pulled up, John runs towards the back end of the ship and reaches out a hand.

"Jump, I'll get you!"

Luxu takes a run-up and jumps towards John. He manages to jump to the edge of the ship and pulls himself up with John's help.

"All this trouble of teaching you how to sail, and then we almost leave you behind! Haha!"

As soon as Luxu is on board, Mr. Bow gives the signal to lower the sails a bit more and turns the steering wheel. Slowly but surely, they get outside the harbour onto the river Thames, and set sail towards the rising sun.

John and Luxu walk towards the front of the ship and John turns towards Luxu.

"Luxu, once again welcome on board the Hispaniola! This is finally the start of a great expedition!"

* * *

It's a sunny day on the open sea. Most of the crew is below deck, passing the time with games. But Mr. Bow disturbs the silence.

"Listen everyone! I just got the ok from the Captain! Today there'll be gumbo for lunch! James, put some wood in the stove, were eating something hot today!"

James, who is sitting with Luxu, stands up.

"Yes, Mr. Bow!"

James looks at Luxu.

"You want to help? This is my favourite recipe!"

Luxu nods and stands up as well.

"Sure. If it's something that Mr. Bow gets so riled up, I'm curious how you do it."

They get to the kitchen, and before long the rooms get filled with a delicious smell.

* * *

Although some small clouds cover the sun, it's still pretty warm. Some people are on deck, going about their businesses, when suddenly a man comes running up the stairs from below the deck.

"I knew it was you, John! This just became a one-way trip for you!"

After getting some distance between him and his pursuer, John turns around trying to soothe the person.

"Calm down, honey. It was just a joke!"

Alice comes closer while swinging a kitchen knife with a dangerous precision, slowly pushing John back to the edge of the boat.

"_Calm down!?_ I'll show you how calm I am!"

Behind them James with Tazer in his arms, Luxu and Finney come up the stairs. Finney tries to apologise.

"I'm sorry Mr. Greystoke, before I knew it, it had already slipped out my mouth!"

But with the furious Alice in front of him, John was unable to get angry at Finney.

"Honey I'm sorry, alright? Let's talk this out shall we? What do you even want to do with the knife?"

Alice forms an evil smile on her face, while John is getting more and more pale. She moves the knife around slowly and John focuses his eyes on it.

"I won't do _anything_ with the knife."

Before John gets the meaning of her words, Alice suddenly kicks him right between the legs and all the men present flinsh as John slowly falls backwards into the sea. Alice waves her hand at him.

"Good bye, darling~"

Something heavy can be heard, hitting the water and everyone except Alice runs towards the back of the ship. Mr. Bow, who already stood there, observing the situation, throws out a rope towards John, who is desperately trying to stay above water.

"John, grab onto this – we'll pull you out!"

He manages to grab the rope and the crew starts lifting him out of the water. Once out of the water, Mr. Bow puts a blanket over him.

"How are you holding up? I get a feeling that's going to hurt for a while."

John is kneeling on the deck, looking like he's in trance. After a while he finally manages to squeeze out some words.

"Just remind me… that I must never… make her angry anymore. I'm not sure my manhood will survive another round."

* * *

Luxu is sleeping in his cabin, when he is suddenly woken up by John, who is barging into his room.

"Mornin' nice day for a fishin' ain't it?"

Luxu opens his eyes and when he realised, that he's not having a strange dream, he gets up.

"What kind of greeting is that?"

John gives him a smile.

"A fisher in my hometown always used to say that. The guy was famous for his catchphrase. So, are you up for it?"

"…Yeah, I'm coming."

"Great meet me at the bow! …Of the ship I mean, not the person!"

After finally getting up and going upstairs, John presents him two fishing rods. Luxu takes one and together they sit down at the front of the ship. John explains Luxu what he has to do, and before long they just sit there waiting for a fish to bite.

"…You know Luxu, this is the first time, it's really just the two of us."

"Yeah, everything that happened has been great so far, but it's really nice when we just sit around."

"You know, I never would have thought, that I would two such outstanding people, like you and James. But the unexpected is half the fun of an adventure isn't it? By the way, you really fit well with the crew. I really hope you'll stay, but it feels like you got your own thing going on…"

After a little silence Luxu answers.

"…Sorry, I can't stay. I'd love to, but I have my own 'voyage' to go on."

"I know you probably mean well, when you keep your story from me, just know that I'll listen anytime you want to talk."

"Knowing that is more than enough for me."

They both fall silent again, before John resumes their conversation.

"Have I ever told you in detail how I met James? I don't think so."

"No, you haven't. Did something happen then?"

"No, nothing special happened. You see I was going around New Orleans trying to find something nice for my wife. She was a little angry at me at the time in my desperation I went through… all kinds of neighbourhoods. During dinnertime I then saw how people were gathering at a house. The house itself didn't stand out at all, so I got curious and went there as well.

That's when I met James. He was making Gumbo with his wife and daughter. When I saw them, I knew, that this was exactly what I wanted my own family to look like. Knowing Alice, I was sure, that she would love this scene as well, so I asked James if he could whip up a table and dinner for me and my wife as well.

You should have seen his face! Looking like I was telling an unbelievable joke. Anyways, I got him to believe me and we arranged a table for an hour later. Luckily, I managed to get Alice to come with me and we honestly had the best dinner of our life. A little angel for a waiter and a chef who cooked for us as he would have for his own pregnant wife.

We talked non-stop with the three of them. About our own circumstances as well as theirs. Hearing how James couldn't find a job, I asked him to cook for me without hesitation. He wasn't a fan at first, but when I pointed out the benefits of being a 'cook who learned in Europe' I finally managed to talk him into it.

I know he considers me his 'saviour' but that's just the same for me. I was really scared of being a father, you know? But seeing him with his family, just having a single _normal_ evening, took away all my fears and replaced them with a feeling of 'I just can't wait'.

For saving me like that, I decided, that even though we might as well come from two different worlds, but I'll consider him family …By the way, I made the same decision when I met you. We are already _one_ family to me, no matter where you or I end up."

Hearing John's words, Luxu can feel his emotions welling up.

"Family, no matter what, huh…"

They both fall silent for a moment, thinking about the places they call home, before Luxu continues.

"I like the sound of that."

* * *

One night, the whole crew is unable to sleep because Tazer just won't stop crying. His cries can be heard throughout the whole ship. Sometimes there might be pauses between them, but before long he would start anew, waking everyone up again. The only person who doesn't notice any of that, is Finney, who has night shift on the crow's nest. He thinks it's just the wind and will only hear about the truth shortly before going to sleep in the morning.

And the only person who is actually able to sleep through all of this is Luxu. To him, hearing the child feels soothing instead. After all, it means that there's no storm coming for him. The noise by then would be a little more sinister.

In the morning both Finney and Luxu are surprised to see the exhausted condition of their colleagues. While Finney goes to sleep, Luxu makes his way to Alice, who seems to have had it worse than all the others and asks her if he can help with the baby.

"You would? Please do for just a while, thank you! I was worried, that there might be no one I can give him to… Not that I can go too far away, or he might start crying again."

Luxu receives the baby, who doesn't seem too happy about it. Luxu secretly uses the device to calm Tazer down, like he has done with the horses, when he has stopped the carriage before. Alice is taken aback by the unusual silence.

"Amazing, I was sure he would start crying again. Well him liking you makes a lot of things easier… If we're lucky he might even fall asleep and I can too then."

Luxu considers if he should use the device to make Tazer fall asleep as well but decides against it. First of all, they are not in that kind of hurry and secondly, he feels it's inappropriate to make the child do his bidding to this degree. It is one thing to calm someone down enough, so they can get to know you and a completely different thing to force your will on them.

Alice and Luxu decide to wait for the child to fall asleep inside Alice's cabin. They each sit down in front of a porthole so they can look at the waves outside. Luxu plays a little with the baby and it starts giggling. Alice leans forward, mesmerized by Tazer.

"…They are so cute when they are young, right?"

"Hmm, I don't know too much about that, but he is for sure."

Alice looks like it's difficult for her to keep her eyes open, but still continues.

"Right… but then they always grow up and if you're not careful, they so quickly lose themselves in their rage for _anything_."

Luxu thinks about her words for a moment and nods.

"That's why I was so hell-bent on going on this journey with Tazer. Of course, John was against it, but you know how he can't refuse me in the end…

You see, the easiest thing to hate is someone you don't know. If you grow up traveling the world, you always know both sides of a border. That's what I want my little boy to become. A man that can bring people together, who might as well come from different worlds."

Luxu is astounded how much thought Alice has given this, but he feels like he has to voice his doubts.

"But isn't that kind of task a little too big to just give it to someone?"

Alice gives him a smile.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like a task. These are just my honest wishes for him. If he decides to do something else entirely, I will support him the whole way, if I feel that it makes him happy …And if it looks like he's losing his way, I'll make sure to give him a good whack."

Alice looks at Tazer as if to warn him to be good, while Luxu has a worried look on his face.

"Be careful though, or you'll lose your chance of getting grandchildren."

"I don't always kick people between the legs. That was a special case …And one I regret by now. John did his best to help last night, if he just wasn't such a klutz when handling a child, I would have really appreciated him."

Luxu thinks about it for a moment.

"Well, if you feel bad, how about you try to make it up to him? Cook him a meal, instead of letting James do it?"

Alice hesitates.

"I don't know… It would just end up, that he misses out on James' cooking…"

"Then how about helping out James, when he makes lunch today? I'm sure he'd be thankful. He looked pretty tired, when I saw him before."

She ponders about Luxu's proposal.

"If I manage to get any sleep by then, I'll ask him."

Looking down, Luxu sees how Tazer is slowly breathing with his head slumping sideways.

"…Tazer didn't open his eyes for a while, so you might get what you want…Should I go tell James while you sleep?"

"Please do. You can leave Tazer here if you want. It looks like he's calmed down as well."

With those words Alice stands just to immediately pass out in her hammock. Luxu puts Tazer in his own special crib and leaves the room.

He hasn't taken many steps when he is stopped by John.

"So, is she alright? It has been quiet for a while now."

"Yeah, they're both sleeping. No need to worry anymore."

"I wasn't-, well… I _was_ worried. But can you really blame me for that. She had to deal with Tazer every time he woke up again, and I just couldn't help at all!"

Before he gets caught up with criticizing himself, Luxu has an idea.

"Well if you want to help her out, why don't you ask James to help you make a meal for her? And he can also teach you how to make something to eat for babies."

John's eyes light up.

"That's a great idea! I'll go and ask him right away!"

"Nah, don't bother. How about you rest for a bit and I'll tell him? You have some really dark circles around your eyes yourself."

"Thank you, you really got a load off my shoulders today! See you later then."

While Luxu watches John walking away a wry smile forms on his face. He quickly makes his way to James and informs him about the situation.

"…So, I guess you want me to get them to cook together? Good work there, Mr. Cupid! Don't worry, I'll make sure to get them together."

Now it's James' turn to give Luxu a wry smile. With everything prepared, Luxu can just make sure he gets a first-row seat for the performance. Luxu sits down close to the kitchen from where he can hear most things that are said.

The first to walk by Luxu is John. Before he can ask, Luxu points in the direction of the kitchen.

"He's already waiting."

"Thanks"

After James and John greet each other, Luxu can hear James giving instructions.

"Just peel the potatoes for now, that will take a while."

"Alright."

While the kitchen is quiet, Alice comes with Tazer in her arms. Luxu takes him and points at the kitchen. Alice nods and walks past him. In the meantime, Tazer seems to be happily held by Luxu. When Alice enters the kitchen, Luxu can hear surprised outcries.

Alice: "What are you doing here!?"

James: "He offered to help with cooking and wanted tips about how to make a meal for a baby. Of course, I'll help him out."

John: "Can't you at least _try_ to not tell her everything?"

James: "Why would I? She asked me the same thing. Teaching both of you at the same time really makes it easier for me."

Alice: "As if I'd believe-"

James: "It's good that you're already here. Now get to peeling the tomatoes please. In the meantime, I'll explain to you what you have to look out for in a baby's meal. Alice, you might know some of this already, but I'll start with the basics alright?"

Alice: "… Fine."

While the peeling of potatoes can be heard. James talks about things like when they should switch to giving Tazer porridge. He continues with foods that are a little harder to bite and what babies can stomach eating.

Luxu listens in on them for a while and before he knows it, he dozes off just like Tazer in his arms. A little later he is woken up again.

"Well, what have we got here. The culprit, caught red-handed as he tries to spy on us."

Luxu is ripped out of his dreams. Staring in the eyes of Alice and John.

"Luckily, we are in a good mood, so we will just sentence you to be our taste-tester."

"Can't guarantee if you'll survive it though."

When Alice and John step aside he can see a plate filled with delicious looking Gumbo on a table they prepared for him. Luxu snickers as he stands carefully, as not to wake up Tazer.

"Nothing gets by you, huh?"

"That's right. You better remember that."

John answers while Alice takes Tazer. Luxu makes his way to the table and a few moments later the pair sits down on the opposite side of the table holding their own plates in their hands.

* * *

On the evening of the same day James is watching the sundown on deck while leaning on the railings. This isn't the first time Luxu has noticed him standing there. This time though he decides to walk up to him.

"What're you doing there?"

"Hey, Luxu. Me? I'm just reminiscing about today's events. I gotta say, that Gumbo is definitely one of the best I've ever eaten. And we have your head to thank for that, don't we?"

"Ah, well. I just had the idea. If it weren't for you, I'm sure they wouldn't have been able to come together like that."

James glances to the side and smiles at Luxu.

"I'm doing what I can."

They fall silent and watch the sundown for a while before James continues.

"We're almost there huh? Can't believe it's already been a month, since we met. And at the same time, it feels like we've known each other my whole life."

"Heh, I get what you mean. It's been really nice."

"Yeah, it's times like these that make it all worth it to me."

Another short silence.

"So, you just like watching the sundown?"

"Haha, nah, there _is_ a little more to it. You want to listen to a story?"

Luxu can feel the device react, but he has already decided to delay that matter until after they reach their destination.

"I'd love to hear it."

"Good. You see, there's this story my little Tiana liked. It was about the Evening Star. If you make a wish on it anything can come true… But lately, I've come to like the sundown that is right before it, a little more. Because we use stars to navigate away from my family, it just doesn't feel right.

The sun, however, is different. It always sets west, right? That means, the sunset slowly wanders from here, where we are to my little Tiana, who is already waiting for it so she can look for the evening star."

James smiles and the device gradually becomes brighter.

"And that way, it feels like _I_ am slowly getting closer to them. You understand what I mean?"

"I get it a little. I at least know what missing your home feels like. But if it continues like this, I'm sure you'll be fine."

The last part of the sun has just vanished beneath the horizon, when Tazer's cries can be heard again. James turns around and sighs

"Hahh. Sounds like we'll have another long night ahead of us… Those were the only kind of nights I didn't miss. But it seems that is all I'm going to get for now."

"Haha, I'd love to be empathetic, but I have no problem with his crying."

Luxu turns around as he continues.

"I'll be sleeping juust… fine?"

As Luxu turns around, he notices a small cloud in the distance. It's already dark so it's difficult to make out for Luxu. But to him it seems like it's moving unusually fast.

"Hey, didn't we say there should be clear skies tonight? So, what's that over there?"

Luxu points in the direction of the cloud and James squints his eyes, trying to make out, what Luxu is showing him.

"Yeah, we did. Are you sure you're seeing something?"

Luxu has a bad premonition and shouts upwards at Finney, who has just started his shift in the crow's nest again.

"Heey, Finney! Can you see any clouds over there!?"

Finney stares in the direction Luxu is pointing at for a while, but eventually shakes his head.

Luxu's face turns pale and he stumbles backwards onto the railings. At the same time the baby's cries become louder again.

"Dammit, shouldn't there have been more time!? And why is it erupting in the middle of nowhere!?"

* * *

The storm has come closer with an abnormal speed, and soon enough the whole crew notices that something is off. Luxu has told James to get the boats ready and sprints to the captain's cabin where John, Alice and Tazer are.

"No time to explain, come with me!"

"What do you mean 'no time'? Is there a leak!? Are there pirates!?"

John immediately jumps up from his chair. Then a blunt noise can be heard from the ceiling, as if something just landed there.

"Worse. You need to get to the boats right now! Please trust me!"

John is confused for just a moment, before he pulls himself together again.

"Will do. Should I bring the Sword?"

Luxu looks at the blade, that is already resting in Johns hand. He quickly runs closer to John, takes his sword for a moment, and then etches some runes inside. Some light of the Device flows into it.

"James is already getting the boats ready. You don't have to worry about the rest of the crew, I promise, they'll be fine. And this sword will work for one swing only. Use it only when you really need it. I'll buy you as much time as you can."

Then he gives the sword back to John.

"You will see things, that definitely don't belong in this world, but ignore them as much as you can. They notice you quicker, when you give them attention, can you do that?"

Something seems to have crashed into the ship and the sound of braking wood can be heard.

"Just focus everything you have on protecting Tazer."

John has a fierce look on his face, but he nods.

"Alice and I will get him to safety, and if it's the last thing we do."

"But whatever this is, you stay save as well Luxu."

Luxu turns towards the door.

"I'll see what I can do. Follow me!"

He kicks open the door and sprints outside. Many crewmembers can be seen lying around unconscious and wrapped in a white light. They slowly get swallowed by dark puddles, but the light doesn't get weaker at all. It continues to shine even in that puddle. And it will, for a long while, freezing everything, it wraps in time.

But Luxu doesn't give them much attention. Instead, he quickly assesses the situation. Two Darknesses seem to have boarded the ship. One is standing above the door Luxu just has come out of. It has two large wings, arms and feet. The eyes on its head are focused on Luxu. The other is climbing up from the side of the ship. It has claws, which it buries deep inside the wooden planks to crash them. But different from its companion, this creature does not have a human appearance. It can best be described as a giant centipede, with crab a crab's arms.

"I'll deal with those two, just run ahead and lower the boat!"

James and Alice do as he told them and run towards the boat on the other side of the ship. They vanish behind some crates, and Luxu can't see them anymore.

The flying Darkness tries to get after them, but Luxu jumps and intercepts it. He activates the runes on his arms and legs and throws the Darkness to the ground.

"You're not going anywhere!"

Now, that he is in the air, the other Darkness gets ready to grab him before he can reach the ground. In the moment the Centipede tries to snap at him, Luxu kicks the centipede sideways, catapults himself in the other direction, and lands in a safe distance from both Darknesses.

But now that he finally reached the ground, he quickly closes the distance with the centipede who is still staggering backwards. But before Luxu can reach the centipede, the flying Darkness intercepts him and he has to exchange a few blows with him. The centipede regains his posture and before they can encircle him, Luxu gains some distance again. But not before kicking the flying darkness backwards again.

Luxu looks around and sees the storm becoming worse and worse.

"How can it get so bad in just a few minutes? Isn't there something wrong!?"

The centipede tries to catch him off guard, but Luxu intercepts it and a cracking sound can be heard. The centipede falls to the ground lifelessly. The flying Darkness has started his attack at almost the same time as the centipede. And Luxu barely manages to block it.

While fighting, the fog around Luxu is getting thicker and it gets more difficult for Luxu to see his surroundings. Luxu gets the uneasy feeling that _something_ is watching him from the fog, but as always, he ignores it. Instead, he is chasing the Darkness that is trying to get out of his sight.

But when he finally reaches it, it counters Luxu's attack and he is thrown backwards a few steps. The darkness doesn't try to get away another time. Instead it closes in on Luxu and attacks him. Luxu blocks it's attacks and returns a counter, that finally defats it. Suddenly he hears a yell behind him, and he immediately turns around.

"Hiyaa!"

James is swinging the sword, Luxu has given to John and strikes a figure made of mist with it. That figure has emerged behind Luxu without him noticing. But its aura is exactly what he has felt the entire fight. After being struck the misty figure slowly crumbles to the floor.

"James, what are you doing here!? What happened to Alice and John!?"

"They are fine! But what are _you_ doing here!? You think I can leave while you're still inside that fog!?"

Suddenly, the figure re-emerges behind James. Luxu tries to react but it's too late.

"What!?"

The mists around James and Luxu get even thicker than before. The eyes that Luxu has felt before now stare right into his face. And Luxu pales as he finally starts to recognize these eyes.

"Oh, no."

No one except him would be able to recognize these eyes, because he is the only who knows them. After all they spring from his own imagination. They are the very embodiment of what Luxu sees and feels when he looks at the Cursed Mists. Luxu has already known, that it has only been a matter of time, before the mists would uncover his deepest fears. But Luxu has hoped, that it would take until much later.

Luxu can feel anger from the cursed mists, but at the same time it feels like he's simply imagining it. Nevertheless the mists do exactly what Luxu fears they would do: They start seeping into James, who now gets a panicked look on his face.

"What is this!? No! Get away from me!"

James starts screaming, when Luxu grabs his hand. His eyes dart left and right and he completely freezes up.

"James, listen to me! You have to get away from here! Fight this! You have to get to your family, right!? Please! Can't you understand me!?"

But the person in front of him already can't see Luxu anymore. At that moment the dark mists also start seeping into Luxu. The coat seems to have lost his protective effect. Luxu's vision gets hazy, but he holds on to James with all his might as they are getting pulled apart. As the force becomes stronger it takes everything he has, to keep gripping James' hand.

Luxu uses his other hand to take out the device, while he is slowly getting overwhelmed by the dark mists.

"Come on! Do something! _Please_! Just get him away from here!"

In that moment, something strange happens. Instead of the usual white light from the Device, a golden light from the Rose is released. Luxu can feel his body getting lighter. And instead of getting pulled away from James, he is now transported quickly towards him. And more than that. He is transported _inside_ him as well.

Luxu is bewildered and looks back at his own body with James' eyes. He can see himself falling apart into mists leaving only behind the coat. The pair of eyes is gone as well. The device has been transported with him and now it's golden light starts to shine even brighter than before. The rose that was attached to it, is now growing at a rapid speed and slowly wraps the entire surroundings.

Then "Luxu" re-emerges directly in front of "James". But his eyes now have the same look, as the ones in the Cursed Mist before. "Luxu" starts to speak, but his voice is cold and filled with malice. Just as Luxu speaks, another muffled voice can be heard in the background. It seems to come from everywhere at the same time and is much deeper than Luxu's voice.

_And so, we finally meet face to face. I have dreamed of this day, when you have first thought of me. And now I will at last make it a reality._

There is still seeping dark mist out of "James" chest, and the creature in front of him starts to pull on that mist. The golden vines of the Rose are trying to intervene, but they can't stop it. Slowly but surely James' heart is pulled out of his body.

An evil smile appears on the Fake-Luxu's face, as he gives it a final pull and rips out James' heart completely. As soon as he has it in his hand, he jumps back a few steps.

_It's really a shame that you have to cowardly run away, while leaving behind your friends._

Luxu in James' body jumps after the Fake-Luxu, while the vines keep reaching for him as well. Luxu starts shouting in James' voice.

"I won't let you take him!"

But before Luxu can react, the Fake-Luxu kicks him back again. He starts to laugh.

_Oh? You won't let me take him? You must be even more foolish, than you are weak. Look closely, I already have taken him!_

Fake-Luxu takes the heart in his hand and puts it directly into his chest, where dark mists are formed again. Luxu screams desperately in James' voice.

"Noooo! You'll die for that!"

This time, Luxu holds out his hand and inside it appears his Keyblade. Thin golden vines are wrapped around it and he starts running towards the Fake. They start fighting in close combat, but because he's not used to his body, Luxu is slowly getting overwhelmed.

Soon he can barely keep up with blocking the Fake's attacks and falls to his knees. He's breathing heavily while trying to prop himself up with his Keyblade.

_There's already no hope for you anymore. You cannot defat me._

"…You're right. That's why I tried to buy as much time as I can."

The fake looks around. There are already vines growing everywhere around him. Only above, the huge cloud of the Storm can be seen. When the Fake notices something, he contorts his face into a wrathful grimace.

_By pulling us away from that place, you are merely delaying the inevitable. Sooner or later, I will take everything you hold dear from you and cover the whole world in darkness!_

"But I won't give up without a fight. You hear me James!? This fight isn't over yet!"

Luxu is slowly getting wrapped in vines and buried in the golden light. Tears fall to the ground beneath him.

_You will not be able to hide from me. I will always find you and I will always be right behind you. And I will always be able to follow your smell. The smell of your despair._

Luxu becomes unable to see anything else than the golden light and then he loses consciousness.

* * *

James opens his eyes and the first thing he sees is the night sky.

"James-!"

James jolts upwards. He quickly assesses his surroundings and notices, that he is sitting on small plot of grass which is surrounded by a rose garden. He can see ornated pillars and even a small pavilion in front of him.

But while he slowly understands that he is not in danger, he also realizes what just happened. He starts shaking and his breathing becomes heavier. His head starts to spin, and he barely manages to get up.

"No, no, no. I – I need to get back! They still aren't protected!"

James frantically stumbles towards the pavilion, when he notices, that he is still holding the Keyblade with the eye in his hand. He looks at the eye and his expression slowly turns from a shocked realisation to rage.

"_You_… You already saw all of this and you still let it happen!? And then you had the gall to tell me things are going to be FINE!?"

James throws the Keyblade with all the power he has left at the wall in front of him. It gets stuck in the stone and James stomps closer.

Tears start running down his face.

"What kind of person can look someone in the eyes and tell them 'I know you'll succeed'?"

James is close enough to shout directly at the eye again.

"And how can you _dare_ tell me 'I can't save everyone', when you know exactly that out of _everyone_, I wanted to save _them_ the _most_!?"

James hits the wall besides the Keyblade and a loud bang can be heard. James slowly slumps to the ground again and starts to weep bitterly.

"How could you, Master? How could you choose to stay silent about the fact, that the Storm really _is_ chasing me!?"

James stays there for a while longer, until his weeps are interrupted.

"Who goes there!?"

When James turns around, he stares into the face of a young man, wearing colourful clothes and thick make-up. When he sees James' face his face distorts with disgust.

"Ahh! What a grotesque visage! Guards! Guards! A monster has trespassed into my castle! Seize it at once! And then free it from its suffering!"

James stands up, gathers up his Keyblade and coat, which has been lying on the ground and gives the young man a cold stare.

"_Don't bother_. I'll show myself out."

Using one of the ornamented pillars as a foothold, he jumps on top of the wall. He looks down on the man for a moment, who is standing there with an open mouth, turns around and gets down at the other side of the wall.

James walks into a forest and walks for a while without looking back. Then, a strange feeling spread inside him. As if this whole situation reminds him of something. Luxu starts to chuckle and slowly gets louder, until he has to hold his stomach laughing.

"There's no pause for me, is there? Even now you give me another prophecy and I'm supposed to just go on with my head held high?"

The laugh turns into a sob.

"Well, I guess that's what I deserve for abandoning them. And not just that – if they hadn't met me, they would have easily been able to finish their voyage. So I basically stabbed them in the back myself, just because I couldn't let go of them. Looks like we aren't so different after all, Master. We are _both_ garbage."

Luxu sits down leaning against a tree, wrapping his arms around his legs. In this position he repeats the next prophecy over and over, until his fatigue finally overtakes him, and he falls asleep.

_One day before a castle you will stand,_

_but shall receive no helping hand._

_Cast away, is what you'll be,_

_A rotting heart is what you'll see._

_Follow the enchanting smell,_

_and guide it just as well._

_Have it do what must be done,_

_and once again the light will have won._

* * *

_Author's Gibberish:_

_To be honest I cried at least two times in the process of making this chapter. Both times were, when I looked at the "reference material" for it. It's a work of beauty, that simple words (or at least _my_ simple words) can't reach. If you're interested, just look for "Two Worlds One Family" on You Tube. There should be a video (3:07 long) containing the intro-scene of a famous Disney-Movie. _

_It seems like the fatigue of having to leave his home and go on lonely travels with no end in sight is slowly catching up with Luxu. But at the same time his travels have just begun, haven't they?_

_Well… This was the first step in shaping Luxu into the man he is going to become. Unfortunately, it was necessary in order to create the person later known as Xigbar. Though, writing this chapter was pretty hard for me. I didn't expect it to be so difficult to create a family, knowing full well, it's not going to last. But then again, it's always like that in life, isn't it? If you get caught up in the future, you lose sight of the present. Or if I use the words of my own character: "Yeah, it's times like these that make it all worth it to me." …This either feels like patting myself on my shoulder or like taking credit for something I probably accidentally stole from some other story._

_Still, I have newfound respect for people who can create stories like this out of nowhere. After all I'm still just taking what is already there. Now that I had to create characters myself, I'm not sure if they feel like real individuals interacting with each other or too much like copies of the same person._

_By the way, there are some Easter eggs in the text, though they don't really add any more layers to the story. For one you'd even have to be a "man of culture", and who wants to openly be something like that? That would be a pretty dumb idea coming from a pretty dumb person. .-._

_On a last note, I wanna say, that it already paid off for me personally to write this. Because by having to understand Luxu, so I can sketch out his behaviour in current (and future) chapters, I was able to experience FFVII-REMAKE so far on quite a different level. I think so at least – or Cloud is just that well made as a character. That could be the case too of course. Anyways, thank you dear Internet-people who gave me de idea of actually writing stuff down for once. :)_


End file.
